CBS Poll: Don't Impeach Clinton
Ken Starr Takes A Beating In Latest Survey
Most Americans Favor Censuring The President
Most Oppose Impeachment Hearings
NEW YORK
Sunday, September 13,1998 - 06:28 PM ET
(CBS) Now that Independent
Counsel Kenneth Starr's
report is public and the
charges against President
Clinton have been laid out in
full, most Americans still do
not want to take the drastic
actions of either impeachment
or resignation, according to the latest CBS News poll.
There is increased support for censuring
the president, up to 56 percent Saturday
from 49 percent last week.
Now, 31 percent say it would be better for the country if Mr.
Clinton resigned, up from 26 percent last week. Still, 66
percent think it would be better for the country if he finished
his term.
Thirty-two percent think the House should hold impeachment
hearings, 62 percent say they're not necessary.
And on a general question about "What should happen
now?", 57 percent were willing to let the matter drop - little
change from last week.
In this poll, nine out of 10
adults say they've heard
or read about what is
contained in Starr's report
(a quarter of those claim
they haven't heard or read
much).
Forty percent claim
they've personally read
parts of the report. Fifteen
percent of Americans say
they accessed, or tried to
access the report on the
web.
Many Americans express concern about Independent
Counsel Kenneth Starr's investigation and report, in particular
the graphic sexual details.
By 64- 29 percent, they say inclusion of those details
was not appropriate.
By 60-33 percent, Americans believe Starr included
graphic sexual details mostly to embarrass the
president, rather than to prove perjury.
And by 59-36 percent, American say the House
should not have included all of those details in the
publicly released report.
A majority says the report is one-sided rather than fair and
balanced. And overall opinion about Starr himself continues
to be unfavorable.
Americans continue to
have a two-sided view of
Mr. Clinton, differentiating
between his performance
in office and his character
- reflecting the continued
majority perception that
the Lewinsky matter is
private, not public.
On Saturday, the
President's approval
rating remained high at 61
percent. And two-thirds said he has strong qualities of
leadership. But his personal evaluations continue to fall. On
Saturday, 39 percent had a favorable impression of him,
47percent an unfavorable one.
Although opinion of Clinton had been even lower in the
middle of the 1992 election campaign, the only comparable
negative point since he has been President occurred
immediately before the 1994 mid-term elections. At that time,
unlike now, his approval rating was equally low as his
favorability rating.
Only 28 percent say Mr. Clinton shares the moral values
most Americans try to live by; 66 percent say he does not.
And more people than ever before think it's likely that Bill
Clinton encouraged Monica Lewinsky to lie under oath than
ever before. Sixty percent now think that's probably true. |
