Poll: Clinton Should Not Leave Office
President's ratings rebound;
Gore seen as qualified for presidency
WASHINGTON (Jan. 25) -- Although growing numbers of Americans
believe that President Bill Clinton had an extramarital
affair with Monica Lewinsky, and over half the public
believes that Clinton lied under oath about that affair, only
23 percent think that it would be better for the country if
Clinton left office, according to the latest CNN/USA
Today/Gallup poll.
And the president's approval rating has rebounded to about
where it was before news of the scandal broke last week.
A CNN/Time poll conducted on Thursday showed that Clinton's
favorable rating had dropped to 52 percent, but today's
figures, based on interviews conducted Friday and Saturday,
show Clinton's approval rating at 58 percent.
Sixty percent of all Americans now believe that Clinton and
Lewinsky had an affair, while an additional 4 percent believe
they had sexual relations of some kind but not an full-blown
"affair."
Fifty-five percent say that the charges that Clinton perjured
himself are true, and 46 percent think that he tried to get
Lewinsky to lie under oath; 45 percent do not believe that
charge.
But few American believe that those charges are definitely
true, and "reasonable doubt" in many minds is probably
helping Clinton at this stage of the game. Americans may be
suspending judgment on the matter until they get more facts.
Suppose that Monica Lewinsky does strike a deal with Kenneth
Starr and testifies that she and Clinton did have sex? If it
becomes a case of he-said/she-said, whom will the public
believe? Right now, they are split: 44 percent say they would
believe Clinton, 43 percent say they would believe Lewinsky.
Clinton Favorable Rating
| |
Who Do You Tend To Believe More? |
| December | Now | |
Bill Clinton | 44% | |
Favorable | 58% | 57% | |
Monica Lewinsky | 43 | |
Unfavorable | 37 | 40 | |
| | |
|
The survey of 903 adult Americans was conducted January
23-24, 1998 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage
points.
Allegations That Clinton Had An Affair With ...
| |
Allegations That Clinton ... |
| True | Not true | |
| True | Not true |
Monica Lewinsky | 60% | 33% | |
Lied under oath | 55% | 36% |
Other women | 61 | 30 | |
Tried to obstruct justice | 46 | 45 |
|
President Gore?
Does the public think Vice President Al Gore is qualified to
be president? Yes, but only 30 percent would consider voting
for him.
Fifty-six percent of the public says that Gore is qualified
to be president, but nearly half of those who feel that way
would not vote for him.
CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP POLL
January 16-18
|
Is Al Gore Qualified To Be President? |
Yes | 56% |
No | 36 |
Yes, and I would vote for him | 30% |
Yes, but I would not vote for him | 26 |
No, he is not qualified | 36 |
Sampling error: +/-5% pts |
|
Just 36% say that Gore is not qualified to be president. A
December
CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll appeared to indicate that a
majority did not think Gore was qualified to be president.
But when respondents had an option of saying that they didn't
like Gore but did consider him qualified for the Oval Office,
the result was good news and bad news for Gore. The good
news: Americans do think he is qualified to be president.
The bad news: they just don't want him to be president.
Allegations That Clinton Had Affair With Monica Lewinsky
| |
Allegation That Clinton Had Affairs With Other Women |
| Wednesday | Now | |
Definitely true | 19% | |
Definitely true | 7% | 12% | |
Probably true | 42 | |
Probably true | 47 | 48 | |
Probably true | 42 | |
Not true | 37 | 33 | | Not true | 30 | |
|
Allegations That Clinton Lied Under Oath About Affair
| |
Allegations That Clinton Tried To Obstruct Justice |
| Wednesday | Now | |
| Wednesday | Now |
Definitely true | 8% | 15% | |
Definitely true | 6% | 11% |
Probably true | 41 | 40 | |
Probably true | 33 | 35 |
Not true | 43 | 36 | | Not true | 51 | 45 |
|
|