Poll Finds Concerns That Bush Is Overly Influenced by Business
By Richard W. Stevenson and Janet Elder
New York Times
Thursday, 18 July, 2002
Americans worry that President Bush and his administration are too heavily influenced by big business,
fear that Mr. Bush is hiding something about his own corporate past and judge the economy to be in its
worst shape since 1994, the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll shows.
The survey suggests that the unfolding revelations about corporate misconduct and inflated earnings
hold considerable peril for the White House and Mr. Bush's party in this Congressional election year. Not
surprisingly, Democrats sounded particularly troubled about the administration's handling of the corporate
issue, but even Republicans shared many of the concerns.
By more than two to one, the poll's respondents said the administration was more interested in
protecting the interests of large companies than those of ordinary Americans. That concern was expressed
by more than a third of Republicans and an overwhelming majority of Democrats.
Two-thirds of all respondents, and slightly more than half of Republicans, said business interests had
too much influence on the Republican Party. Slightly less than half of all those polled said business
exerted too much influence over the Democrats. Many Americans also expressed concerns that Mr. Bush
and Vice President Dick Cheney had not been sufficiently forthcoming about their own past business
dealings.
With the stock market falling, concern about the economy intensifying and the United States facing the
continued threat of terrorist attacks, the poll found a surge since the start of the year in the percentage of
people who think the country is on the wrong track. It also found that Americans' trust in government, which
climbed after Sept. 11, has slid significantly.
For all the reservations respondents expressed about the administration's commitment to looking out for
them -- and about the business ethics of administration officials when they were in the private sector -- Mr.
Bush remains personally popular. His approval rating stands at 70 percent, continuing a steady decline
from its peak of 89 percent after Sept. 11, but still impressive by any standard.
Asked whether Mr. Bush "cares about the needs and problems of people like yourself," 68 percent
responded yes.
The nationwide telephone poll of 1,000 adults was conducted Saturday through Tuesday. It has a
sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.
People who participated in the poll and agreed to follow-up interviews said that they often separated Mr.
Bush's performance as commander in chief from his performance on domestic issues, and that they tended
to give greater weight to the fight on terrorism in judging him.
"Bush is doing his job well in Afghanistan, but the economy is falling down around us," said Debbie
Wilson, 40, an unemployed hairdresser from Elmira, N.Y.
"As far as big business's influence on the administration, it's hard to be sure of what is really going on,"
Ms. Wilson, a Democrat, said. "I watch the news about him and Cheney and the tycoons, and you don't
know where you're at. The whole country seems to be too influenced by business, but there is not enough
information given to the public."
Paula Pittman-Troisi, 40, of Birmingham, Ala., said she thought Mr. Bush had been a great leader in the
fight against terrorism. But she had questions about the influence of campaign contributors and big
business on government.
"Though the intertwining of raising campaign funds and big business worries me, it doesn't worry me
enough to lose my faith in George Bush," said Ms. Pittman-Troisi, a part-time securities saleswoman who
is an independent voter.
Still, among the survey's most striking findings were the responses concerning the past business
practices of Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney. Though most of those polled said that they did not know much
about the business dealings of the two, the respondents expressed skepticism about whether the president
and vice president were being candid and open.
Asked whether Mr. Bush was telling the truth about his dealings at Harken Energy, an oil company
where he was a director and consultant from 1986 to 1993, 48 percent of those surveyed said that they
believed Mr. Bush was hiding something; another 9 percent said they thought he was mostly lying.
Seventeen percent said they believed that Mr. Bush was telling the entire truth.
Yet when asked whether they thought Mr. Bush had acted honestly and ethically in his business
practices while in the corporate world, 43 percent of the survey's respondents said yes, more than double
than the 21 percent who said no.
Mr. Bush has maintained that all his actions at Harken were proper, and at a White House news
conference yesterday he reiterated that a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into his sale
of Harken stock in 1990 ended with no action taken against him.
Mr. Cheney's role as chief executive of the Halliburton Company, the oil services giant whose
accounting practices during Mr. Cheney's tenure are being investigated by the S.E.C., drew similarly
skeptical responses. Forty-three percent of those polled said they thought Mr. Cheney was hiding
something, 10 percent said they thought he was mostly lying and 11 percent said they thought he was
telling the entire truth.
Asked specifically whether they thought Mr. Cheney had done anything unethical while running
Halliburton, 23 percent said yes and 32 percent said no.
Mr. Cheney has declined to comment on his involvement in Halliburton's accounting policies, citing the
S.E.C. inquiry. Asked about Mr. Cheney yesterday, Mr. Bush defended him as a "fine business leader."
While questions about the corporate careers of Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney were most pronounced
among Democrats and independents, Republicans also expressed concern. Thirty-nine percent of the
Republicans polled said that Mr. Bush was hiding something; 37 percent said Mr. Cheney was doing so.
Ari Fleischer, Mr. Bush's spokesman, said the poll results were evidence "of a nation that continues to
strongly approve of the job the president is doing and a nation that knows the president is honest and
ethical and shares the nation's moral values."
Mr. Bush registered positive approval ratings for his handling of foreign policy. Also, 80 percent of those
polled said that Mr. Bush shared the moral values most Americans try to live by.
At the same time, people remained split about whether Mr. Bush is really in charge of what goes on in
his administration.
The corporate scandals and the questions about the honesty of corporate earnings reports are clearly
touching the public. Sixty-two percent of those surveyed called the issues very serious, and another 29
percent said they were somewhat serious.
The poll also found that 43 percent of respondents did not think Mr. Bush's proposals for addressing the
problems went far enough, but 36 percent said they were about right.
The poll found that 58 percent of all respondents -- and 38 percent of the Republicans -- said that
business has too much influence on Mr. Bush himself. Two-thirds of all those surveyed, and slightly more
than half the Republicans, said business has too much influence on the administration generally.
Few administrations have come to office with more corporate experience than Mr. Bush's. But with both
politics and the economic outlook being recast by the volatility on Wall Street and the reports of
malfeasance within corporations, business experience that had once been the highlight of the
administration's résumé has increasingly given Democrats an opportunity to portray Republicans as
detached from the concerns of average people, the poll showed.
Those surveyed were divided over whether Mr. Bush was personally more interested in helping
corporations than in helping ordinary people, but 58 percent said the Republican party was primarily
interested in protecting big business. Slightly more than half the Republicans polled said that business
interests had too much influence with their own party.
The poll found that big business is held in relatively low regard. More than a third said they have very
little confidence in big business, and 71 percent said business does only a fair -- or poor -- job of making
sure its executives adhere to ethical and legal standards.
The survey's findings about the business scandals were mirrored by general declines in trust in
government and in views about the economic outlook.
Asked to rate the state of the economy, 49 percent said very good or fairly good, while 49 percent said
fairly bad or very bad. It was the most pessimistic assessment since early 1994, when the economic boom
of the last decade was just getting under way.
Larry Shepler, 42, of Chesapeake, Va., a high school teacher, said in a follow-up interview that he
thought Mr. Bush was doing a good job because the country was moving in the right direction, the
economy had stabilized and the war on terrorism was going reasonably well.
Mr. Shepler, a Republican, said: "Though big business has always been too involved in the government
because lobbyists for big business have always had too much influence and carry more weight than the
average person, it is only coming out now because companies are in financial trouble and people are being
made more aware of it."
Go To Original
Poll: Worries On The Rise
CBS News
Wednesday, 17 July, 2002
(CBS) Trust in government is eroding amid increasing concerns about the economy, the declining stock
market and American business ethics. And that could spell trouble for the White House and the GOP as
the fall elections near, a CBS News/New York Times poll finds.
While President George W. Bush's overall approval rating remains high at 70%, concerns that he - and
especially his Administration - worries more about big business than the public at large have emerged.
Some of those concerns may affect the fall election, with Democrats now holding even larger advantages
over Republicans on many key domestic issues than they did before September 11.
Some poll highlights:
Nearly half now say the country is on the wrong track - the largest percentage since last June. Only
38% say they can trust the government to do what's right most of the time, also down near pre-9/11 levels.
In just the last week, the percentage saying the Stock Market is in good shape has dropped 14 points,
down to 33%. Fewer than half say the U.S. economy is in good shape, something that hasn't happened
since 1994. 41% say it's getting worse.
Nearly six in ten say the U.S. economy is in worse shape than it was two years ago, and nearly a third
say their own family's financial situation is worse than in 2000.
Nearly all Americans say the corporate accounting scandals are a serious problem for the economy,
with 62% saying they are a very serious problem.
Americans are divided on whether Bush personally cares more about protecting the interests of large
corporations or the interests of ordinary Americans - but six in ten say his Administration AND his party
care more about large corporations than about ordinary Americans.
The Administration And The Corporate Scandals
President Bush continues to get high marks from the public as a person and a President - his approval
rating is 70%, and 64% give him an overall favorable rating. But many have questions about his relationship
with big business. The personal confidence Americans have in their President, however does NOT extend
to members of his Administration, who are overwhelmingly seem too influenced by big business and not
necessarily honest in their previous business dealings.
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