CBS Poll: 36% Say Gonzales Should Quit

Two-Thirds Of Those Following News Do Not Believe Attorney General In Firings Firestorm

(CBS)  According to a CBS News Poll conducted last week, nearly two-thirds of those who are following developments in the Justice Department firings of eight U.S. Attorneys do not think Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is telling the truth about the dismissals.

Of those who are paying attention, large majorities of Democrats and Independents (80 percent and 71 percent, respectively) do not think Gonzales is being honest, compared to 55 percent of Republicans who think he is.

Of all Americans, 36 percent think Gonzales should resign or be removed from his post as a result of the firings; 28 percent think he should not, while just over a third is unsure. But among all who are closely following the story, more than half — 52 percent — think Gonzales should resign.

However, fewer Americans are following the news about the firings than they were a few weeks ago — Democrats are a bit more likely to be following the story than are Republicans. This may change once Gonzales testifies before Congress. His appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, originally scheduled for earlier this week, was postponed until today in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings.

Is Gonzales Telling The Truth About The Firing Of U.S. Attorneys?
(Among respondents who are following news of the firings)
All
Yes
26 percent
No
63 percent

Among Republicans
Yes
55 percent
No
31 percent

Among Democrats
Yes
13 percent
No
80 percent

Among Independents
Yes
18 percent
No
71 percent

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CBS News polls: Alberto Gonzales

---

Should Attorney General Gonzales Resign?
(Among respondents who are following news of the firings)
All
Yes
52 percent
No
38 percent
Unsure
10 percent

Among Republicans
Yes
21 percent
No
41 percent
Unsure
38 percent

Among Democrats
Yes
49 percent
No
19 percent
Unsure
32 percent

Among Independents
Yes
35 percent
No
26 percent
Unsure
39 percent


Forty-one percent of those polled are following news about the firing of U.S. Attorneys, a drop from last month when 50 percent of Americans surveyed were closely following the story.

For detailed information on how CBS News conducts public opinion surveys, click here.

This poll was conducted among a random sample of 994 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone April 9-12, 2007. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher.

[sjc_1]

This is an inside D.C. thing. This A.G. is an embarrassment to the Republican party and makes the next election more difficult for them. The GOP has become the party of incompetence and arrogance and now here is yet another example of that.

[tucano2]

If your story's numbers are correct some 64 percent feel he is doing an ok job - that is at least double the approval rating his boss has been getting - if Gonzales needs fired due poor numbers then it is way way past time for his boss to have gotten canned and booted back to Texaco.

[bluestardad]

CBS you guys have been f@$%#ing up by the numbers lately! Your title of this should read something like over half of Americans think GONZO is lying or something! Then you turn this Virginia Tech shooter into some Cult Legend with your constant coverage of him and printing action photos of him and all! Maybe Americans should write your advertisers and get you taken off the air! Hey I want the job of your General Manager it is obvious he is asleep at the wheel like Bush is I can turn your company around cause you have good people working for you!

[anwaya]

The truly remarkable thing about this story is that it is rendered obsolete by events in the week since the poll was taken. This should have been a Monday story, because we have now seen the Attorney General do his best in public not to lie, and to undo his previous lies, and fail miserably. Now is the time to comission a poll: and I'd be surprised if as many as 36% think he should not resign.

Alongside the scandal of the USA firings, he has deeply damaged the Justice Department, approved of torture, dismissed the Geneva Conventions, weakened habeas corpus, allowed abuse of National Security Letters, authorised warrantless wiretaps, and many other acts undermining the principle of a Nation of Laws. We live in very dangerous times.

[anwaya]

The truly remarkable thing about this story is that it is rendered obsolete by events in the week since the poll was taken. This should have been a Monday story, because we have now seen the Attorney General do his best in public not to lie, and to undo his previous lies, and fail miserably. Now is the time to comission a poll: and I'd be surprised if as many as 36% think he should not resign.

[tucson23]

Whats wrong with making money on investments, we all do it?
Posted by thgdriver

Some people live paycheck-to-paycheck, and can't afford to invest. The big corporations they work for do everything they can to keep labor costs low, which means paying those people as little as possible. The money corporations save from paying people low wages ends up in the hands of investors, who tend to be rich enough to invest in the first place.

It's called Capitalism--an economic system which, left to its own devices, concentrates capital in the hands of the rich. Eventually, the country becomes like India, where 1% of the population has all the weath and everyone else lives in a cardboard shack. This is what Republicans want to see happen, and work for it every day. Democrats want to redistribute that wealth through progressive taxation, unions, minimum wage, anti-trust, fair business practices, etc., all of which the GOP opposes.

If you're poor and vote Republican, you're voting to keep yourself down economically. That's worth a gay marriage ban, isn't it?

[kansas1946]

I am just surprised the the looney right is so supportive of an obviously gay man. I thought that group hated *** and wanted them run out of town on a rail. Well, I guess if Bush likes him, he is okay in their book.

[tucano2]

So 36 percent think Gonzales ought to be allowed to quit??? The rest of us believe he out to be fired , arrested, and jailed for many years.

[dirtydog55]

Dear Friends,

I have the distinguished honor of chairing a committee to raise $5 million for a statue of George W. Bush to be placed in the Hall of Fame in Washington, D.C.

The committee is in a quandary where to place the statue. It is not wise to place it beside the statue of George Washington, who never told a lie; or beside Richard Nixon, who never told the truth, since George W. Bush can not tell the difference.

We decided to place it beside Christopher Columbus, the greatest of them all. He left not knowing where he was going, and upon arriving did not know where he was. He returned not knowing where he had been, and he did it all on borrowed money.

Over 5,000 years ago, Moses said to the children of Israel, "Pick up your shovels, mount your assses and camels, and I will lead you to the Promised Land." Nearly 5,000 years later, Roosevelt said, "Lay down your shovels, sit on your assses, light up a camel--THIS is the Promised Land."

Now, Bush is stealing your shovels, kicking your assses, raising the price of your camels, and mortgaging the Promised Land. If you are one of the fortunate people who has any money left after paying taxes, we expect a generous donation as a contribution to this worth-while project.

PS: President Bush is considering changing the GOP emblem from an ELEPHANT to a CON.DOM, because it stands for inflation, protects a bunch of pri.cks, halts production, and gives a false sense of security while one is being screwwed.

[alpha2omega-2009]

So whoever wrote this story got it wrong. It is not one third that thinks he should resign, it is 52%. didn't inhale did not catch or correct THAT (wonder why)? Guess going without oxygen will do that to you. Does anyone think it kind of telling that the fact that Republicans somehow think Gonzales should keep his job even though he is a liar? This, for the highest justice dept job in the land?

Posted by toldyouso21 at 02:58 PM : Apr 19, 2007

I re-read it several times and you're right, 52%. I wonder if maybe didntinhale is actually an undercover right wing loony working for CBS? lol!

Posted by RandalDS at 03:29 PM : Apr 19, 2007

---------

It is not 52% of the total adults polled, but 52% of those polled that follow the news on the firings (read the small print in the poll results). So that will be roughly 21% of the total polled. The other 15% is made up of those polled that do not follow the news.

[thgdriver]

Whats wrong with making money on investments, we all do it? Frankly, I wish I would have invested in oil 12 years ago when I had the chance.

Some folks are getting rich, it's called Capitalism.


Besides, what are all you whiners doing about the outrageous price of fuel?? Answer---nothing!

[galaxiana]

Why did CBS sit on these poll results for almost ten days before making them public?

In matters like this, survey results aren't even relevant more than a couple of days after they are acquired, because news has been emerging almost daily that can alter people's views.

CBS is falling further and further behind the other leading news services, and I'm getting very close to changing my online news source to something else, perhaps NBC.

Old survey results are not only bad journalism for being "old news," they are bad journalism for being downright misleading, since the public views have very likely changed in the past 9 days!

[goldesprit]

Gonzales is just a crook/crony and all know it.

The "55% of republicans that think he is honest" are crooked!

DUH!

[vicsgirl]

I wish for one second these fools would have worry about filling their tanks ...........

[randalds]

I am just amazed at what we spend our time on !
It just cost me 71.00 dollars to fill my gosh *** truck. Somebody help !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by vicsgirl at 04:07 PM : Apr 19, 2007

The president is an oil man. The Vice-President is an oil man. Most of their top appointees are oil men (Condi Rice for one). Their friends are all oil men. The oil companies are making higher profits, literally, then any other companies in the history of the world. No joke, that is NOT an exaggeration. Your fuel prices are through the roof. Do the math.

[david1737]

It's not the crime it's the cover-up, and so it goes in politics. Not! In this case it's all of the above. Gonzo is guilty on many levels. Lack of qualification to hold the position (his appointment was another example of loyalty over competence in the Bush Admin.) He's also guilty of having "misspoken" (lied) repeatedly with respects to key details of this case. The Bush Admin. (in this case) selectively targeted a sub-group of prosecutors, while they (the prosecutors, were in the middle of an investigation. In doing this, they attempted to influence the outcome of an investigation for Partisan political reasons. In addition, this case represents the Bush Admins. push towards "unitary executive" power. A.G. needs to step down for all of the above.

[vicsgirl]

I am just amazed at what we spend our time on !
It just cost me 71.00 dollars to fill my gosh *** truck. Somebody help !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[randalds]

Anyone else notice CBS STILL refuses to post comments on any of their stories about Bush and the VT massacre?? Corporate Control over Reporters and Citizens is a reality now, how soon before the internet itself is outlawed?? Welcome to Communist China or North Korea....
Posted by veteran71 at 01:52 PM : Apr 19, 2007

Considering how much innocent blood Bush has dripping from his hands, I don't think CBS wanted to risk the kind of comments that they'd get. Like too bad Bush wasn't a student at VT on Monday. lol!

[vicsgirl]

Poor Alberto, that is what happens when you are loyal to Georgie. So sad.

[gunnerv1]

If you guys hate CBS so much, then why are you here all the time?