Poll: New Jersey tabs Clinton as favorite president

New Jerseyans chose President Bill Clinton as their favorite president in a new poll that shows many of the nation's 15 best-known commanders-in-chief don't incite much passion in the state.

With 21 percent support, Clinton leads fourteen of his best-known colleagues in the Monmouth University Poll released on President’s Day. Ronald Reagan comes second, with 16 percent support, and President Obama comes third, with 14 percent support. Abraham Lincoln takes 12 percent, and the rest of the presidents tested — including John F. Kennedy and George Washington — take less than 10 percent support.

Lincoln is the only president to claim strong bipartisan support, with 10 percent of Democrats and 15 percent of Republicans naming him as their favorite president.

Lincoln and Obama have seen their support nearly double since February of 2010, when only seven percent of respondents chose each as their favorite president. Reagan and Kennedy, however, have seen their support decline, from 24 percent for Reagan and 11 percent for Kennedy in 2010.

The survey was conducted among 803 New Jersey adults from Feb. 6-10, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

---