GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ – Vice President Dick Cheney is back at work after a Saturday operation, during which he received a pager-sized version of the defibrillator used in emergencies to shock a patient's heart back into normal rhythm. The vice president's heart problems have been a source of concern for some ever since his selection as George W. Bush's running mate a year ago, but a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted the weekend of June 29-July 1, 2001 shows a majority of Americans do not believe his health will affect his ability to carry out his duties.
When asked whether they are concerned that Cheney's health problems would prevent him from serving effectively as vice president, 64% of those surveyed say they are not concerned, while 34% are. This represents a slightly lower level of concern than that found earlier this year in a March CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, when 39% were concerned about the effect of the vice president's health on his performance in office.
Just 12% of those polled this past weekend believe the vice president's health problems are serious enough to justify his resignation from office, while 20% say he should cut back on his workload. Nearly two out of three Americans, however, say there is no reason why Cheney should not carry on with his regular duties. These results are virtually identical to those found in March.
Survey Methods
These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 571 adults, 18 years and older, conducted June 29-July 1, 2001. The entire June 28-July 1 survey, of which these questions were a part, consisted of interviews with 1,014 adults. These two questions about Vice President Dick Cheney were added to the survey on Friday after news of the pending medical procedures became public on Friday morning. 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 5 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.
On another matter, are you concerned or not concerned that Vice President Dick Cheney's health problems will prevent him from serving effectively as vice president?
BASED ON -- 571 -- INTERVIEWS CONDUCTED JUNE 29-JULY 1; ±5 PCT. PTS.
|
Concerned |
Not concerned |
No opinion |
||
|
2001 Jun 29-Jul 1 |
34% |
64 |
2 |
|
|
2001 Mar 9-11 |
39% |
59 |
2 |
|
|
2000 Nov 26-27 ^ |
30% |
68 |
2 |
|
|
^ |
WORDING: On another matter, are you concerned or not concerned that Republican Vice Presidential candidate Dick Cheney's health problems would prevent him from serving effectively as vice president? |
|||
Which comes closest to your view concerning Vice President Dick Cheney's health problems -- [ROTATED: Cheney should resign as vice president, Cheney should remain as vice president, but cut back on his duties, (or) Cheney should remain as vice president and continue with his current duties with little or no change]?
BASED ON -- 571 -- INTERVIEWS CONDUCTED JUNE 29-JULY 1; ±5 PCT. PTS.
|
|
Cut back |
Continue with current duties |
No |
|
|
2001 Jun 29-Jul 1 |
12% |
20 |
65 |
3 |
|
2001 Mar 9-11 |
11% |
21 |
66 |
2 |
