Beau Biden remains popular, poll shows

Beau Biden, who has remained far from the public spotlight since surgery to remove a small lesion from his brain in August 2013, remains exceedingly popular here, a new University of Delaware poll shows.

Sixty percent of respondents to the poll, conducted Sept. 10-22 by phone, viewed the second-term attorney general favorably. Just 24 percent of the 902 Delaware adults surveyed held an unfavorable view.

In April, Biden said he would forgo a third term as attorney general to seek the governor's office in 2016.

Biden made the announcement by email. He has denied interview requests and shown up to very few public events since, sparking even more speculation about his health and his political future.

Paul Brewer, the University of Delaware political communication professor who oversees the polling, said Beau's numbers "do look quite strong."

"He's already well known and well liked, so he doesn't have to worry about being out the spotlight for a while," Brewer said. "Delawareans aren't going to forget who he is."

Joe Biden's numbers are at least as good, and maybe better. Sixty-four percent of adults surveyed held a favorable view, while 30 percent said they viewed the vice president, and Delaware's longtime U.S. senator, unfavorably.

Gov. Jack Markell's popularity slipped slightly in the past year, but his numbers remain strong. In last month's poll, 55 percent viewed the governor favorably, while 25 percent viewed Markell unfavorably. That's down from a 62 percent favorability rating in a University of Delaware poll a year ago.

"It's not a big drop, and his numbers still tilt toward the positive," Brewer said by email. "However, Obama saw a comparable drop (6%), and one thing the two have in common is that they're both chief executives who have been in office for a while now. Presidents and governors tend to be the most visible targets for individual credit or blame for how things are going."

Contact Jonathan Starkey at (302) 983-6756, on Twitter @jwstarkey or at jstarkey@delawareonline.com.