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Poll: Clinton, GOP Deserve Credit For Budget

If there's a balanced budget deal, people say they should share the credit

By Keating Holland/CNN

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, July 28) -- If the balanced budget talks are successful, President Bill Clinton and GOP leaders in Congress will share the credit equally, according to a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll.

poll

But if the budget negotiations fall through, a majority of Americans would blame the Republicans. If a bill is passed into law which would balance the budget by the year 2002, 43 percent of all Americans say that Clinton should get more credit for that than the GOP, while 43 percent say the GOP should get more credit than Clinton.

But if no balanced budget bill becomes law, 50 percent say that the GOP would be more responsible for that happening than Clinton, while just 36 percent would blame Clinton more than the GOP.

poll

By a 49-38 percent margin, the public says that they prefer Clinton's approach to the federal budget more than the Republicans'.

The poll numbers are based on interviews with 1,014 Americans conducted July 25-27. The survey has a margin of sampling error of +/- 3 percentage points for questions asked of the entire sample, and 3.5 percentage points for questions asked of registered voters.

Here are the numbers:

Who Is Responsible If Budget Talks Succeed?
GOP
Clinton
43%
43%
Who Is Responsible If Budget Talks Fail?
GOP
Clinton
50%
36%
Whose Approach To Budget Do You Prefer?
GOP
Clinton
49%
38%

The 1998 Mid-Term Elections

The survey also included questions on next year's congressional elections.

Looking ahead to the 1998 midterm elections, how do the Democrats and Republicans stand? If that election were held today, 48 percent of registered voters would choose the Democratic candidate for Congress in their district, while 43 percent would vote for the GOP candidate. The Republicans have a little more strength among those who regularly vote, but the Democrats still come out ahead.

Would the country be better off if the Democrats regained control of Congress? Thirty-nine percent of registered voters say yes, while 37 percent say the country would be better off if the GOP controlled Congress. In the most recent CNN/USA Today/Gallup survey, in late June, the Democrats had a more comfortable 40-34 percent lead on that question. That indicates that the attempted coup against Speaker Newt Gingrich may not have hurt his party as a whole.

Here are the numbers:

Congressional Choice in 1998
Democratic
Republican
48%
43%
Country Better Off If Congress Controlled By...
Democratic
Republican
39%
37%

Coup Attempt Doesn't Affect Gingrich's Already Low Numbers

The coup also has not hurt Gingrich himself, but only because opinion of the Georgia Republican was already very low. Only a quarter of the public has a favorable view of Gingrich, virtually unchanged from the previous poll in late June. And 63 percent of the public would like to see the GOP replace Gingrich as speaker. (Among Republican members of the general public, 47 percent would like to see Gingrich remain as speaker and 46 percent would like to see him replaced.)

If Gingrich is ousted, that might help his party's chances at the ballot box next November, but the results are inconclusive because the differences are well within the survey's margin of error. As noted above, Democrats have a 48-43 percent lead among registered voters if the mid-term elections were held today. But if Gingrich were not speaker of the House, the Democrats' lead among registered voters would shrink to 46-45 percent.

Opinion of Gingrich
Favorable
Unfavorable
26%
64%
Should GOP Replace Gingrich as Speaker?
Yes
No
63%
29%

Congressional Choice in 1998
With Gingrich As Speaker Without Gingrich As Speaker
Democratic
Republican
48%
43%
46%
45%

The Senate Hearings

Only 39 percent of all Americans believe that the Senate committe investigating campaign fund-raising in the 1996 election has produced new information on that subject, and a majority think it is unlikely that the committee will do so in the future. Nearly two-thirds of the country thinks the Democratic party committed unethical acts in its fund-raising last year; 55 percent say the same about the GOP.

Here are the numbers:

Has Committee Produced New Information on Fund-raising?
Yes
No
39%
49%
Committee Will Produce New Information on Fund-raising
Likely
Unlikely
44%
54%
Unethical Fund-raising in 1996
Democrats
Republicans
63%
55%

Public Likes Alan Greenspan

As his 10th anniversary as Federal Reserve chairman approaches, Alan Greenspan enjoys high ratings among the general public. Fifty-two percent of all Americans have a favorable view of Greenspan; only 11 percent have an unfavorable view. But less than a third of the public is familiar with Greenspan, a remarkably low number for someone in his position.

Opinion of Greenspan
Favorable
Unfavorable
52%
11%


Other Polls:

President Clinton Is America's Most Admired Man (12/30/97)
Americans Support U.S. Role In Bosnia (12/22/97)
Reno Should Have Appointed Independent Counsel (12/3/97)
Americans Want Independant Counsel (11/24/97)
Virginia Exit Poll: Governor's Race (11/6/97)
New Jersey Exit Poll: Governor's Race (11/4/97)
New York City Exit Poll: Mayor's Race (11/4/97)
Clinton, Gore Approval Ratings Rise (10/30/97)
America's Leaders Like America's Course (10/13/97)
Americans Want Campaign Reform (9/29/97)
Bad, Good News For Gore (9/12/97)
Congress Returns With High Approval Rating (8/28/97)
More Americans Want Jones vs. Clinton Settled Out Of Court (8/14/97)
Credit For Balanced Budget Deal Goes To GOP (8/1/97)
Clinton, GOP Deserve Credit For Budget (7/28/97)
GOP Congress Out Of Touch, Favors Wealthy (6/30/97)
People Still Care About Washington Scandals (6/3/97)
High Court Correct On Jones Case (6/2/97)
Public Supports Budget Deal By 2-1 Margin (5/8/97)
Few Americans Volunteer Regularly (4/25/97)
Most Say No To Wheelchair In F.D.R. Memorial (4/24/97)
Clinton's Approval Suffering Little (4/21/97)
Majority Says Gingrich Loan 'Inappropriate' (4/18/97)
Clinton's Approval Rating Remains High (3/27/97)
Gore's Poll Numbers Dip (3/14/97)
WSJ/NBC Poll On Fund-Raising (3/13/97)
Is Clinton's Honeymoon Ending? (2/27/97)
Americans Are Split On Clinton's Fund-Raising Tactics (2/27/97)
For 2000, Powell's No. 1 With GOP Voters (2/21/97)
President's Approval Rating Stays At High Levels (2/8/97)
New Yorkers Strongly Support Pataki (2/7/97)
Public Confidence High In Clinton On Most Issues (2/7/97)
Clinton Rides High On Issues Public Cares About Most (2/3/97)
Clinton Approval Rating At All-Time High (1/16/97)
Polls - Campaign '96





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