Americans Support U.S. Role In Bosnia

But a new poll shows the public is still wary of an open-ended commitment

By Keating Holland/CNN

WASHINGTON (Dec. 22) -- For the first time, the American public approves of the presence of U.S. troops in Bosnia. But most Americans disapprove of President Bill Clinton's decision to keep the troops in Bosnia beyond his original June deadline for bringing them home, according to a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll.

Only 43 percent of all Americans agree with Clinton's decision to keep troops in Bosnia indefinitely. But in a significant shift, nearly half the public approves of the presence of U.S. troops there, a 10-point shift since June.

Nonetheless, only 28 percent of the country thinks the Clinton Administration has a clear policy in Bosnia.

The new poll is based on interviews with 1,005 adults done Dec. 18-21, and the survey has a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.

U.S. Troops In Bosnia?
Approve Disapprove	Now 49% 43%	June 39% 53%
Clinton's Decision To Keep Troops in Bosnia Indefinitely
Approve Disapprove	43% 50%
Does Clinton Have Clear Policy in Bosnia?
Yes No	28% 60%

Satisfaction with the economy

On another subject, Americans are satisfied with the state of the nation's economy, but do not feel the same way about the state of race relations in the U.S. And while satisfaction with economic conditions has increased since the start of the year, satisfaction with race relations has dropped somewhat. Nearly a majority believe the economy is in excellent or good shape; only 42 percent of people surveyed felt that way at the start of the year.

That's good news for Clinton, whose current favorable rating of 58 percent is just about where it was when the year began. Hillary Rodham Clinton, at 56 percent, is also as popular as she was in January. But it has not been a good year for Vice President Al Gore. Gore's favorable rating, now at 50 percent, is 10 points lower than it was in the first week of 1997.

Satisfied With...
Economy Race relations	Now 63% 43%	June 58% 49%
Economic Conditions Today
Excellent/good Only fair/poor	Now 48% 50%	June 42% 58%
Recent Economic News
Mostly good Mostly bad	51% 37%
Favorable Ratings
Bill Clinton Hillary Clinton Al Gore	Now 58% 56% 50%	June 60% 56% 60%
Gore Favorable Rating
Favorable Unfavorable	Now 50% 37%	June 60% 26%

In Other News:

Monday Dec. 22, 1997

• Gore Announces $865 Million In Homeless Grants
• Clinton To Propose Targeted Tax Cuts

Poll:
• Americans Support U.S. Role In Bosnia