(AP)
Barack Obama.

The wild, wacky exhibit that has been the Republican presidential primary could be making more voters yearn for someone like the person currently sitting in the White House.

And that could be a big problem for the GOP.

The public-opinion organization Gallup, which surveys the approval rating of the sitting president on a daily basis, found earlier this week that President Barack Obama's rating had jumped to its highest point in three years.

His weekly average rating over the February 29 to March 6 period hit 50%, up five points from two months ago. For Obama, whose approval ratings have been stuck in the mid- to low-40% range for much of his second term, it was a notable bump.

"While it's hard to pinpoint precisely why Obama's approval rating has risen among Democrats recently, there are a number of plausible explanations," wrote Andrew Dugan, a Gallup analyst, and Frank Newport, the organization's editor in chief.

One of the explanations, the pair concurred, was that "the unusual status of the Republican primary race — exemplified in particular by frontrunner Donald Trump's campaign style and rhetoric — may serve to make Obama look statesmanlike in comparison."

The 50% level might seem arbitrary. But historical precedent suggests it could bode well for Hillary Clinton, Obama's former secretary of state who is the Democratic frontrunner to succeed him.

(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)
Donald Trump.

The past few weeks, especially, of the Republican primary have been marked by at-times vicious assaults from the candidates directed at each other. A robust "Never Trump" movement has sprung up in something of an unprecedented effort to deny the frontrunner the nomination.

"President Obama, no matter the political stakes, has always spoken to Americans' aspirations and better angels," said Ben LaBolt, a former spokesman for Obama's 2008 and 2012 campaigns. "It's hard to argue that's what has driven the campaign narrative this year."

Indeed, Trump canceled a huge Friday-night campaign rally in Chicago amid mass protests there. Cable-news stations played an endless loop that night of fist fights and racially charged confrontations between Trump's critics and supporters.

The president's approval ratings at this point are far better than his predecessor, President George W. Bush, off whose unpopularity Obama thrived. His level was most directly comparable to former President Ronald Reagan, who in March 1988 held a 51% approval rating, according to Gallup.

That same year, voters selected George H.W. Bush — Reagan's vice president — to succeed him.