POLL RELEASES
December 11, 2000
Americans Expect Bush to Prevail
Public divided on whether U.S. Supreme Court should allow vote recount in Florida, but expects ruling for Bush and says Gore should concede if that happens
by David W. Moore
GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans are about evenly divided over whether the U.S. Supreme Court should allow the recount in Florida to continue as Al Gore wants, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted Sunday. But the public expects that the Court will finally rule in favor of George W. Bush, and that following such a ruling, the vice president should concede the election. Americans also indicate a widespread willingness to accept as legitimate whatever decision the highest court makes, believing it will be fair -- even though a slight majority also believes that the Supreme Court justices will be influenced by their personal political views in deciding the case.
The poll shows that 49% say the Supreme Court should not allow the vote recount in Florida, while 47% say it should. These views are highly partisan, with Gore supporters favoring the recount by 89% to 8%, those preferring neither candidate also favoring the recount, by a smaller margin of 56% to 33%, and Bush supporters opposing the recount by 90% to 7%. The poll also shows that most Americans -- 75% -- believe the Supreme Court will rule in favor of Bush, while just 14% expect the ruling to favor Gore, and another 11% have no opinion on the matter. Furthermore, 81% of Americans say they expect Bush to be the next president, while just 11% say Gore. Given these expectations, it is not surprising that just over half of all Americans, 53%, believe that "as of today" Gore should concede, and -- should the Court rule in favor of Bush as the public expects -- the number who would want Gore to concede jumps to 79%.
Supreme Court Seen as Legitimate Arbiter
Although Americans -- by a margin of 51% to 42% -- believe the Supreme Court justices will be influenced in their decision by their own personal political views, the public overall still has a great deal of respect for whatever decision the Court might make -- with 72% saying it will be fair, 17% unfair and just 3% saying it depends on what that decision is. Similarly, 73% of Americans say they will accept any Supreme Court decision in the matter as "legitimate."
This widespread respect for the Supreme Court is reflected in the public's choice of which political entity they would most trust to make the final decision on the selection of the president. Sixty-one percent of Americans say they would most trust the U.S. Supreme Court, while only 17% say the U.S. Congress, 9% the Florida Supreme Court and 7% the Florida legislature.
Americans are closely divided over whether the Florida legislature should vote to select Bush's slate of 25 electors, with 48% saying they would approve and 42% saying they would disapprove of such an action. In a Gallup poll a week ago, Americans said they would approve of such action by the legislature only if the winner is "not settled" by the December 12 deadline, while they would disapprove if that action overturned a Florida court decision in Gore's favor. The legislature is not expected to act, however, if the Supreme Court makes a final ruling in favor of Bush and Gore then concedes the election.
gallup.com |
