GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- President Clinton's job approval rating surged to 64% this past week, up six points from the previous week, according to the latest Gallup poll, conducted July 22-25. The poll shows that the president's favorability rating also increased last week and now stands at 57%, the highest since last January and up by nine points over the last reading a month ago.
One possible factor in the improved ratings could be the generally favorable press coverage the president received from his press conference last week, during which -- among other things -- he argued that among all the presidential candidates, only Vice President Al Gore was laying out a detailed plan of what needs to be accomplished in the next presidential term. But if that press conference alone was the reason for Clinton's improved ratings, it does not explain why the first lady's ratings also increased and why Gore's ratings remained essentially unchanged.
The poll shows that 62% of Americans now have a favorable opinion of Hillary Clinton, up six points from the end of June. By contrast, Gore's favorability rating is at 53%, down slightly from the 56% he received last June. However favorable the president's comments, they did not seem to help the vice president.
The other major event last week that could have had an impact on the Clintons' ratings was the national mourning following the deaths of John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn, and her sister Lauren Bessette, killed in an airplane crash off Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. In his press conference, President Clinton discussed JFK Jr.'s visit to the White House last year, and both the president and first lady were among those who attended the memorial services. It is likely that this public demonstration of sympathy by Mr. and Mrs. Clinton is at least partly related to the surge in their popularity.
Some evidence for this hypothesis is that the increase in positive feelings for both Clintons was significantly higher among older Americans -- those who were alive when President Kennedy was assassinated and remember his little son saluting his father's casket -- than among younger Americans. Clinton's job approval rating was up by five points among Americans under the age of 50, but up 11 points among those 50 and older. Similarly, his favorability rating surged by 17 points among older Americans, but increased by just five points among those under 30. The increase in Hillary's favorable ratings followed a similar pattern, up by 10 points among older Americans, with essentially no change among those under the age of 30.
The general trend of Clinton's job approval ratings has been lower this year than last, when the president's approval -- either despite, or because of, the Monica Lewinsky scandal and impeachment hearings -- ranged in the mid to high 60s. In fact, right after the impeachment vote by the House of Representatives last December, 73% of Americans said they approved of the president's job performance, a record for Clinton's presidency. However, once the focus of national attention shifted to policy matters and the "normal" politics of Washington, the president's approval began to decline, reaching a year-low of 53% last May. In June, it bounced back to 60%, and has ranged in the high 50s since then. The current 64% rating is Clinton's highest since last March.
Survey Methods
The results below are based on telephone interviews with a randomly
selected national sample of 1,021 adults, 18 years and older,
conducted July 22-25, 1999. For results based on this sample, one
can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error
attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus
3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question
wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can
introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion
polls.
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bill Clinton is handling his job as president?
| Approve | Disapprove | No opinion | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 99 Jul 22-25 | 64% | 31% | 5% |
| 99 Jul 16-18 | 58 | 38 | 4 |
| 99 Jul 13-14 | 59 | 37 | 4 |
| 99 Jun 25-27 | 57 | 41 | 2 |
| 99 Jun 11-13 | 60 | 37 | 3 |
| 99 Jun 4-5 | 60 | 35 | 5 |
| 99 May 23-24 | 53 | 42 | 5 |
| 99 May 7-9 | 60 | 35 | 5 |
| 99 Apr 30-May 2 | 60 | 36 | 4 |
| 99 Apr 26-27 | 60 | 35 | 5 |
| 99 Apr 13-14 | 60 | 36 | 4 |
| 99 Apr 6-7 | 59 | 35 | 6 |
| 99 Mar 30-31 | 64 | 32 | 4 |
| 99 Mar 19-21 | 64 | 33 | 3 |
| 99 Mar 12-14 | 62 | 35 | 3 |
| 99 Mar 5-7 | 68 | 28 | 4 |
| 99 Feb 26-28 | 66 | 31 | 3 |
| 99 Feb 19-21 | 66 | 30 | 4 |
| 99 Feb 12-13 | 68 | 30 | 2 |
| 99 Feb 9(*) | 70 | 27 | 3 |
| 99 Feb 4-8 | 65 | 33 | 2 |
| 99 Jan 27 | 67 | 31 | 2 |
| 99 Jan 22-24 | 69 | 29 | 2 |
| 99 Jan 15-17 | 69 | 29 | 2 |
| 99 Jan 8-10 | 67 | 30 | 3 |
| 99 Jan 6(*) | 63 | 34 | 3 |
(*) one-night poll
Next, I'd like to get your overall opinion of some people in the news. As I read each name, please say if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of this person -- or if you have never heard of him or her. First, ... . How about ... [READ A-C IN ORDER]?
| Favorable | Unfavorable | No opinion | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A. Bill Clinton | |||
| 99 Jul 22-25 | 57% | 41% | 2% |
| 99 Jun 25-27 | 48 | 50 | 2 |
| 99 Apr 30-May 2 | 53 | 45 | 2 |
| 99 Apr 13-14 | 51 | 47 | 2 |
| 99 Mar 5-8 | 54 | 43 | 3 |
| 99 Feb 19-21 | 55 | 43 | 2 |
| 99 Feb 4-8 | 55 | 44 | 1 |
| 99 Jan 8-10 | 58 | 40 | 2 |
| Favorable | Unfavable | Never heard of | No opinion | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B. Al Gore | ||||
| 99 Jul 22-25 | 53% | 35% | 1% | 11% |
| 99 Jun 25-27 | 56 | 39 | 1 | 4 |
| 99 Apr 30-May 2 | 55 | 37 | 1 | 7 |
| 99 Apr 13-14 | 54 | 39 | 1 | 6 |
| 99 Feb 19-21 | 59 | 33 | 1 | 7 |
| 99 Feb 4-8 | 61 | 31 | * | 8 |
| Favorable | Unfavable | Never heard of | No opinion | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C. Hillary Rodham Clinton | ||||
| 99 Jul 22-25 | 62% | 35% | *% | 3% |
| 99 Jun 25-27 | 56 | 42 | * | 3 |
| 99 Mar 5-7 | 65 | 31 | * | 4 |
| 99 Feb 19-21 | 65 | 30 | 1 | 4 |
| 99 Feb 4-8 | 66 | 31 | * | 3 |
* less than 0.5%