US Democrats appear more unified, Republicans more fractured: Gallup

Left: Democratic US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks during a campaign event at the Pierce Arrow Museum in Buffalo, New York April 8, 2016. Right: Democratic US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks at the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 7, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

WASHINGTON -- Despite the verbal jabs between US Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and feisty challenger Bernie Sanders, Democrats in general are more upbeat about both of their candidates than Republicans, according to a Gallup report released Friday.

Based on interviews conducted from March 31 to April 6, seven in 10 Democrats have a positive view of each of their party's two contenders, the poll found.

Clinton has a little more negative baggage, with a 26 percent unfavorable rating compared with Sanders' 13 percent. Sanders has a somewhat higher percentage responding "Never heard of/Don't have an opinion." But they are both well-liked by the Democrats, Gallup found.

This is significantly different from the Republican side, where the percentage of Republicans who like Donald Trump is 55 percent and those who like Ted Cruz is 52 percent.

Plus, Trump's unfavorable rating among Republicans is 40 percent, while Cruz's is almost as high at 38 percent.

On the Republican side, there is much less love. Only 28 percent have a favorable view of both Trump and Cruz. Almost half of Republicans like one but not the other -- 23 percent have a favorable view of Trump but not Cruz, and the same percentage have a favorable view of Cruz but not Trump.

Eleven percent have unfavorable opinions of both, the poll showed.