In a Political Popularity Contest, Hillary Clinton Wins

If there was a political popularity contest, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would be the winner right now with President Obama a close runner-up, according to a Bloomberg poll conducted Dec. 3-7.

Of course, the choices were limited to those whose names Bloomberg included in the poll, but here are some of the results:

Clinton is seen favorably by 62 percent and unfavorably by 31 percent.

Obama's favorable-to-unfavorable margin is 58 percent to 38 percent.

The Federal Reserve (OK, not a person) is seen favorably by 50 percent to 26 percent, with about a quarter saying they weren't sure. Its chairman, Ben Bernanke, is seen favorably by 33 percent to 26 percent but most (41 percent) are not sure.

The Democratic Party is seen favorably by 47 percent to 44 percent (the margin of error is 3.1 points), but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is seen unfavorably by 47 percent to 32 percent with 21 percent unsure.

Daily Show host Jon Stewart vs. former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs? In both cases, about half of those asked were not sure what they thought of either, but those who registered an opinion saw Stewart favorably by 34 percent to 17 percent and Dobbs by 27 percent to 23 percent.

Vice President Joseph Biden is seen favorably by 44 percent to 37 percent.

Forty-nine percent see Sarah Palin unfavorably compared to 39 percent who see her favorably.

The Republican Party is seen unfavorably by 47 percent to 42 percent.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was seen unfavorably by 33 percent to 26 percent, but with 41 percent answering they were not sure, he isn't on his way yet to becoming a household name.