Comedy actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s lead in the polls is growing, according to the latest survey by U.S. pollster Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, which was presented to the visitors of the Dragon Capital investment conference on Feb. 12 and made public by lawmaker Sergii Leshchenko.
According to the poll, Zelenskiy would now take 28 percent of the vote. Sitting President Petro Poroshenko has improved his position and is in second place with 18 percent. For long the frontrunner, Batkivshchyna leader and ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has slid to third place, with 15 percent.
The survey of 1,759 respondents was conducted by phone from Feb. 1-7 by Ukrainian research agency Info Sapiens for the Washington D.C.-based Greenberg Quinlan Rosner.
The polling figures exclude those who said they would not vote, and factors in predictions of the voting choices of the undecided, based on their stated preferences.
The new poll, like other recent ones, shows Zelenskiy’s rating has soared thanks to a smart populist campaign and general anti-elite sentiment, especially among young people disillusioned with the current political elite.
Zelenskiy’s campaign started on New Year’s Eve, when he announced his run for president following the screening of his popular television comedy show.
He has turned his critics’ taunts that he is a “clown” to his advantage, starting an “I’m a clown” meme on social media, in which he called on people to record themselves wearing a red clown’s nose and telling everybody about their meager salaries and stipends.
In contrast, according to sociologists, Poroshenko’s supporters tend to be conservative and thus support the incumbent president because he is a known quantity.
Tymoshenko, who was the frontrunner for months, now has to come up with a new message as her poll ratings have stagnated. Despite having a well-developed party structure and dedicated voters, her populistic promises to cut the utility gas tariffs are not winning her any more support.
However, political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko says it’s too early to write Tymoshenko off: Her elderly voter base is solid, and the turnout among the elderly is usually higher than among the young.
