CBS Poll: Clinton Gains Ground

A few days after the broadcast of President Clinton's grand jury testimony, there's improvement in the president's overall standing with the public, declines in support for censure and more serious punishments, and continued criticism of both independent counsel Kenneth Starr and the House Judiciary Committee, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.

Two-thirds of the public now say they approve of the way President Clinton is handling his job—an increase of six points since the weekend before the videotape was made public. And for the first time in a month, favorable opinions of him now clearly outweigh unfavorable ones. Forty-five percent now say they have a favorable opinion of Mr. Clinton, while 38 percent of opinions are unfavorable.

What Should Congress Do Now?

CENSURE PRESIDENT 46% IMPEACH HIM 31% CLINTON RESIGN 31%

In fact, by 53 percent to 43 percent, those polled said they would be satisfied if no action were taken against the president and the entire matter were dropped.

However, when asked a different question giving them a choice among censure, impeachment, and dropping the matter, only 42 percent would choose dropping the matter. For now, seven in 10 feel the president will neither resign nor be impeached.

CHARGES AGAINST THE PRESIDENT
One result of the release of grand jury testimony from the president and Monica Lewinsky appears to be a drop in the percentage who believe the president obstructed justice by encouraging Monica Lewinsky to lie under oath—a charge both she and the president dnied to the grand jury.

Forty-seven percent now think Mr. Clinton encouraged Lewinsky to lie, down from 63 percent last weekend—a 16-point decline. There has also been a decline of 10 points in the percentage who believe the president himself committed perjury in his grand jury testimony, although the majority still thinks the perjury charge is probably true.

HIGH CRIMES OR SEX?

Clinton's Job Rating

APPROVE 67% DISAPPROVE 28%

But less than a third think he shares the moral values of most Americans, and only 47 percent say they respect Mr. Clinton. Forty-nine percent don't. Women are less likely than men to say they respect Mr. Clinton—one of the very few items in this poll on which there is a reverse gender gap with women less favorable than men. On other questions [such as the president's job approval], there is either no difference between men and women or women express more favorable views than men about the president.

Nearly two-thirds of the public say the entire situation is mostly a private matter, affecting Mr. Clinton's personal life, and NOT a public matter affecting his job as president. The percentage describing this as mostly a personal matter increased from 56 percent to 65 percent after the videotape's release.

Among those who watched some of the president's videotaped testimony, nearly two-thirds regarded questions about specific sexual details as inappropriate, while about the same percentage [62 percent] felt the president's refusal to answer those questions was appropriate. By 54 percent to 40 percent, Americans describe this scandal as mostly about sex and not about finding out whether or not Mr. Clinton has committed any impeachable offenses.

THE ROLE OF MORALS IN EVALUATING A PRESIDENT
The public claims to prefer to judge presidents by their effectiveness at doing their jobs and not by their moralsFifty-six percent say the ability to manage the government is more important than moral values or even agreement on issues in judging any president. And by three to one, Americans think it is more important that a president do his job effectively than that he be a good role model.

While most Americans clearly distinguish between Mr. Clinton's moral values and his effectiveness as President, morals and the scandal is a critical issue to some. These two issues now top the list of the nation's most important problems. Ten percent say the decline in moral values is the most important problem facing the country, and another 11 percent cite the president or the scandal itself.

Moral values is an issue being raised in election campaigns across the country and could motivate those who oppose the president to turn out to vote in November. In fact, those who feel the decline in moral values is the nation's single most important problem disapprove of the way Mr. Clinton is handling his job by more than two to one.

THE INVESTIGATION AND THE TAPE
Since the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke in January, the public has regarded Starr's investigation as partisan. In this poll, 64 percent say that. Less than one in five describes the investigation as worth the time, money, and effort put into it. Seventy-eight percent say it has not been worth it.

This poll suggests the public has extended its negative and partisan assessments to the inquiry by the House Judiciary Committee. By 54 percent to 35 percent, the public disapproves of the way the Judiciary Committee is handling the whole matter.

When asked for reasons, the top three concerns among those who disapprove of the Committee are privacy concerns—that this is a personal matter; that too much information was released too quickly; and that the Committee is playing partisan politics with its investigation.

Even larger percentages disapprove of the Committee releasing the grand jury videotape [78 percent] and say Congress will not be able to work together in a fair and impartial manner if impeachment hearings are held [65 percent].

At least for now, the Republicans appear to get most of the blame for partisanship. And by more than two to one, the public thinks the Republican majority in Congress is using the Starr report unfairly to weaken Mr. Clinton and the Democrats politically, rather than considering it fairly to weigh the charges against Mr. Clinton. Sixty-four percent of Americans worry that the scandal is taking up so much time that it is preventing the president and Congress from getting other work done.

The two most visible Republican leaders in the House impeachment investigation get mixed and even negative evaluations from the public. Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde is not recognized by most Americans, and those with an opinion divide almost evenly. Opinion about Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich improved in early eptember, but in this poll personal opinion of Gingrich is negative—much as it has been for the past few years. Nearly twice as many are unfavorable as favorable towards him.

Overall opinion of Congress is more positive than negative. In this poll, 48 percent say they approve of the way Congress is handling its job, while 41 percent disapprove.

Not surprisingly, opinions among self-described Republicans are much different from Democrats and Independents on virtually all questions relating to the scandal and Congress. Republicans in this poll, and virtually throughout the nine-month scandal, have held much more critical views of Mr. Clinton, and in recent months, have been much more supportive of severe action against the president than either Democrats or Independents. Majorities of Republicans currently approve of the jobs the overall Congress and the House Judiciary Committee are doing.

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