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To: goldsnow who wrote (18557)	9/12/1998 8:51:00 AM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116874

Poll Finds Improved Opinion of GOP By WILL LESTER .c Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican congressional leaders are getting their highest poll ratings in almost three years, and the GOP has made progress on several issues long considered Democratic strengths - education, health care and Social Security. While Democrats still hold the edge on those issues, Republicans have cut that margin by more than half, said a poll released Thursday by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. ''I'm gratified at the increasing public support for Republican education, Social Security and health-care policies,'' said Jim Nicholson, chairman of the Republican National Committee. ''We are running and winning on an issue-oriented campaign to move this country forward.'' The Republican Party had its highest favorable rating in 18 months, 56 percent. In addition, more people said they approve of the GOP congressional leadership, 44 percent, than disapprove, 37 percent, for the first time since the government shutdowns in late 1995 and early 1996. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., who was heavily criticized after the government shutdowns, got good job ratings from 41 percent, his highest rating in the Pew poll since 1995. The Democratic National Committee chairman, Roy Romer, says he is not surprised that GOP leaders are getting their highest poll ratings in three years. ''One would expect their ratings to come up,'' said Romer, the governor of Colorado, ''because they've been doing very little.'' Republicans get into the most trouble with the public when they do something, he said. The GOP had a slight edge over Democrats, 48 percent to 45 percent, when voters were asked their party preference for candidates in November's congressional elections, the poll indicated. The GOP advantage was just over the margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. In the upcoming congressional elections, a gain of 11 seats would give Democrats control of the House. But Democrats are concerned that President Clinton's problems in the Monica Lewinsky matter may cause them to lose ground against the GOP. Yet Romer said his party still has the edge on many key issues. ''My view of the cumulative polls is that Democrats still have substantial advantage on five critical issues - environment, health care, Social Security, education and protecting the middle class,'' he said. The poll indicated Republicans are gaining ground with the public in many areas. ''The images of 1995 have begun to fade,'' said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center. ''The same thing that has lifted the president's ratings, contentment with good times, has lifted the image of Congress and those who run it.'' President Clinton's job rating held steady at 61 percent in the telephone survey of 2,266 adults taken from Aug. 27 until Tuesday. His job ratings have been in the 60s since January, when the Lewinsky matter surfaced. Romer said it was significant that the president's job approval rating remained at that level because the public was still making a distinction between Clinton's policies and his personal behavior. AP-NY-09-11-98 0206EDT Copyright 1998 The Associated Press.