Opinion

CBS Poll: Scandal Is Private Matter

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

July 31, 1998 / 5:13 PM EDT / CBS

Despite this week's barrage of developments in the Monica Lewinsky scandal, interviews conducted over the past three days confirm President Clinton's continued ability to withstand the sometimes serious, and often embarrassing, claims which have been disclosed since January, according to the latest CBS News poll.

Poll findings on policy issues, as well as Americans' judgment about the essentially private nature of the scandal, provide a better insight into why public opinion has not turned against Mr. Clinton.

CONTINUED HIGH JOB APPROVAL

Clinton's Job Performance

APPROVE

63%

DISAPPROVE 29%

The president's job approval rating remains high. After three days of interviewing, 63 percent approve of the way he is handling his job. Twenty-nine percent disapprove. Mr. Clinton's job approval has remained at about this level since the scandal broke. It reached as high as 73 percent when the public rallied around him as the first details emerged in January, then settled into the mid-sixties range.

NATIONAL POLICY ISSUES

On policy issues, the president receives exceptionally high marks. Seventy-five percent approve of the way he is handling the economy. This matches Mr. Clinton's highest economy rating, reached in February, and is the highest score for any president since CBS News and The New York Times started asking this question more than 20 years ago. Fifty-seven percent approve of the way Mr. Clinton is handling foreign policy.

ELEMENTS OF THE SCANDAL

Think Of Whole Situation More As . . .

PRIVATE MATTER/PERSONAL LIFE

64%

PUBLIC MATTER/JOB AS PRESIDENT 28%

How can so many Americans simultaneously believe Mr. Clinton had an affair with Monica Lewinsky and may have even encouraged her to lie under oath about it continue to give him such high approval ratings? To explain this, it is important to understand how the public characterizes this scandal. By more than two to one, Americans describe the whole situation more as a private matter having to do with President Clinton's personal lifeÂ—not as a public matter having to do with his job as president.

The low evaluations of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr and his motives, as well as negative feelings about two principal Clinton accusers, Monica Lewinsky and Linda Tripp, also help to explain why President Clinton has so far not suffered in the public's assessment of his professional abilities.

MEDIA COVERAGE
Public reaction to media coverage mirrors public reaction to most news stories which appear to get an above-average level of coverageÂ—from the O.J. Simpson trial to the Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan saga. Sixty-five percent say there is too much media coverage of the stories about President Clinton and the claims against him. Twenty-seven percent say there's the right amount.

Separate from the issue of the amount of coverage, by 68 percent to 24 percent, Americans think the media has done a good job covering the stories surrounding the scandal. The public's assessment of media coverage on both these measures is very much like its reaction when the scandal began in January.

This poll was conducted among a nationwide random sample of 1,600 adults interviewed by telephone July 28-30, 1998. The error due to sampling could be plus or minus three percentage points for results based on the entire sample.

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