New Jersey governor Chris Christie is more popular among Liberals than among Conservatives, though many aren't sure how different he is from his rival Republican, Rand Paul

In the past two weeks disagreements over the future of the Republican Party broke out into open disagreement between New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. The fissure highlights a split in the Republican party between a growing Libertarian wing epitomized by Paul and more centrist leaders such as Christie.

The latest research from YouGov shows how different the perceptions are of Chris Christie and Rand Paul. Despite being a Republican politician, Chris Christie manages to be more popular among Liberals (42%) than among Conservatives (33%).

Even along party lines, Governor Christie is viewed favorably by 44% of Democrats and 48% of Republicans.

Views on Rand Paul are far more polarized, with Liberals (70%) overwhelmingly having a negative view of Senator Paul, while Conservatives (70%) overwhelmingly have a positive view of the prominent GOP senator.

When asked whether the differences between the two prominent Republicans were significant or not, opinion was largely divided, though the most common response by far was that people were 'not sure' about the degree to which the two men agreed or disagreed on policy issues.

The spat between Senator Paul and Governor Christie has heightened speculation about who will be the GOP candidate in the 2016 election, despite it being three years and three months until election day. The long run up has not put off the public however, with 37% saying that coverage of 2016 in the media is excessive while 39% say that it is either appropriate or insufficient.

Full results can be found here.

Image courtesy of Getty.