Americans Paying Close Attention to Election Controversy

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- Historians will write volumes one day about the election of 2000, when the presidential race between George W. Bush and Al Gore was decided by …

Well, it hasn't been decided yet, and the end of that sentence will have to wait for the final result, whether it comes from a county clerk in Florida or the United States Supreme Court. One way or another, millions of Americans will be able to tell their grandchildren "I was there." On Election Night, many of them stayed awake until the wee hours of the morning to wait for a winner in the presidential race, and they stayed with the story in the days that followed.

A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted the weekend after the election (November 11-12) found that 87% of Americans had been following the election and recounts closely -- the highest level of attention Gallup has recorded for a news story in the last decade.

In the nine years Gallup has been using this method to examine public interest in news events, human-interest stories and military conflicts have generally been most able to attract the nation's attention. The 1997 death of Britain's Princess Diana in a Paris automobile accident and the death of John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife and sister-in-law in a plane crash in 1999 both fostered high levels of public attention -- with 85% and 81% of Americans, respectively, saying they followed those stories closely. The start of the U.S.-led ground war against Iraq in 1991 (84%), and the NATO attacks on Yugoslavia in 1999 (84%) also transfixed the public. The only political event with an interest level comparable to that of the current presidential recount is the Clinton-Lewinsky matter, which drew the attention of 83% of the public in August 1998. Slightly fewer Americans (78%) indicated they followed the Elian Gonzalez story in January of this year.

Americans of All Subgroups Paying Attention to the Controversy
Interest in the aftermath of this election is high across almost all demographic groups: the vast majority of every subgroup indicate they are paying attention to the uncertainty regarding who the next president will be. However, differences are still evident between certain groups in America. The largest differences are apparent between those who voted in the 2000 election and those who did not. Ninety-one percent of those who cast a ballot for president on November 7 say they have been following the news about the uncertain election outcome either "very" or "somewhat" closely, compared to 72% of non-voters. In fact, more than twice as many voters (52%) as non-voters (25%) say they have followed the news on the election "very closely."

Differences in attention paid to this story are also evident by education. More than nine in ten respondents with college educations -- including 95% of those with postgraduate education -- indicate they are following the presidential election drama. Interest among those with a high school education or less is lower, registering at 81%.

Independent voters are slightly less likely to say they are following the news about the election (83%) than are Democrats (89%) or Republicans (90%).

The poll also shows that older Americans appear to be playing closer attention to the post-election news than are younger Americans. Nearly six out of ten Americans aged 65 and older (58%) are paying "very" close attention to the story, compared to 39% of 18- to 29-year-olds.

			ATTENTION RATINGS IN DETAIL					SUMMARY OF ATTENTION
YEAR	DATE	NEWS EVENT	VC	SC	NTC	NAAC	NO	VC/ SC	NTC/ NAAC
			%	%	%	%	%	%	%
2000	Nov 11-12	Situation surrounding Tuesday's presidential election	46	41	10	3	*	87	13
1997	Sep 6-7	Death of Princess Diana	55	30	11	3	1	85	14
1991	Feb 24	Beginning of ground war in Iraq	53	31	13	3	1	84	16
1999	Apr 13-14	Situation in Kosovo	34	50	13	3	*	84	16
1998	Aug 21-23	Clinton-Lewinsky matter	33	50	15	2	*	83	17
1999	Jul 22-25	Death of John F. Kennedy, Jr.	39	42	16	3	*	81	19
2000	Jan 25-26	Elian Gonzalez	34	44	17	4	1	78	21
2000	Sept 7-9	Firestone tire controversy	34	44	14	6	2	78	20
2000	Mar 30-Apr 2	Elian Gonzalez	32	46	16	6	*	78	22
1999	Mar 30-31	Situation in Kosovo	30	48	18	3	1	78	21
1999	Feb 14-15	Custody dispute over Cuban boy saved off Florida coast	23	55	17	5	*	78	22
2000	Oct 25-28	The issue of hate crimes	33	44	15	7	1	77	22
1997	Aug 12-13	UPS strike	30	47	18	5	*	77	23
1998	Dec 12-13	Congressional impeachment hearings	25	52	20	3	0	77	23
1993	Dec 4-6	Jack Kevorkian, M.D.	24	53	17	6	1	77	23
1998	Dec 15-16	Congressional impeachment hearings	26	49	21	4	0	75	25
2000	Oct 25-28	Tax proposals of Bush and Gore	36	38	16	9	1	74	25
2000	Oct 25-28	Social Security proposals to create private retirement accounts	34	40	16	9	1	74	25
2000	Oct 25-28	National issues	25	48	19	8	*	73	27
1993	Apr 20	Standoff in Waco, Texas	24	49	22	4	1	73	26
1999	Jan 8-10	Congressional impeachment hearings	23	50	21	6	*	73	27
1991	Apr 4-6	Fighting in Iraq between army & Kurdish rebels	28	43	22	6	1	71	28
1997	Sep 6-7	Death of Mother Theresa	31	39	18	10	2	70	28
2000	Oct 25-28	The issue of partial-birth abortions	29	41	18	11	1	70	29
1994	Jan 6-8	Arkansas state trooper charges against Clinton	24	45	21	9	1	69	30
1996	Mar 8-10	Two civilian airplanes shot down by Cuba	22	47	22	9	*	69	31
1993	Nov 19-21	NAFTA	24	44	23	8	1	68	31
1999	Dec 9-12	Custody dispute over Cuban boy saved off Florida coast	23	45	18	13	1	68	31
1993	Sep 10-12	Pres. Clinton's plan to reform health care	20	48	26	5	1	68	31
2000	Oct 25-28	The issue of school vouchers	29	38	21	12	*	67	33
1993	Sep 10-12	Clinton/Gore plan to make gov't. more efficient	21	46	24	8	1	67	32
1993	Nov 15-16	NAFTA	20	45	25	10	*	65	35
2000	Feb 20-21	Internet hackers	18	47	24	11	*	65	35
1994	Feb 7	Situation in Bosnia	15	50	24	11	*	65	35
1993	Jun 18-21	Recent events in Somalia	16	47	30	7	*	63	37
1997	Nov 6-9	JonBenet Ramsey	16	45	27	10	1	61	37
1998	Dec 11	Congressional impeachment hearings	18	41	25	16	*	59	41
1997	May 30-Jun 1	Paula Jones lawsuit	17	42	30	11	*	59	41
2000	Mar 17-19	JonBenet Ramsey	12	46	30	12	*	58	42
1998	Dec 10	Congressional impeachment hearings	20	36	31	12	1	56	43
2000	Oct 6-9	RU-486/abortion pill	18	38	24	19	1	56	43
2000	Feb 14-15	Laser eye surgery procedure	17	38	24	21	*	55	45
1994	Aug 8-9	Recent events in Haiti	14	41	25	19	1	55	44
1998	Dec 9	Congressional impeachment hearings	16	38	29	17	*	54	46
2000	Oct 25-28	Possible oil exploration in Alaska	20	33	25	21	1	53	46
1993	Sep 10-12	Recent Israel-PLO agreement	16	36	32	15	*	52	47
1993	Nov 2-4	NAFTA	13	39	31	17	*	52	48
2000	Jun 23-25	Al Gore's 1996 fundraising activities	13	39	24	23	1	52	47
2000	Oct 6-9	Milosevic/Yugoslavia situation	15	36	26	23	*	51	49
2000	May 5-7	Justice department lawsuit against Microsoft	10	41	30	18	1	51	48
1994	May 20-22	Paula Jones lawsuit	12	38	30	20	*	50	50
1997	Sep 25-28	Democratic Party's 1996 fundraising activities	12	37	33	17	1	49	50
1997	May 6-7	Clinton/Congress budget agreement	10	39	33	18	*	49	51
2000	May 5-7	Use of the confederate flag in South Carolina	11	37	28	24	*	48	52
1995	Jul 7-9	Gov't. base-closing recommendations	14	33	28	25	1	47	53
1997	Sep 6-7	Latest bombing in Jerusalem	14	32	30	22	2	46	52
1995	Nov 6-8	U.S. apology for Army rape in Japan	10	36	24	29	1	46	53
1999	Nov 4-7	Budget negotiations between Clinton and Congress	8	38	38	16	*	46	54
1998	Jun 5-7	Clinton-China satellite controversy	15	30	33	21	1	45	54
1993	Sep 10-12	NAFTA	15	29	28	28	*	44	56
2000	Jun 22-25	Los Alamos nuclear secrets controversy	10	34	24	31	*	44	55
2000	Feb 25-27	"Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire"	14	29	22	33	2	43	55
1992	Dec 28	Bush pardon of Caspar Weinberger	10	33	32	25	*	43	57
1997	Sep 6-7	Al Gore's 1996 fundraising activities	11	31	25	31	2	42	56
1998	Oct 9-12	Serbian attacks on Kosovo	11	31	35	23	*	42	58
1998	Oct 9-12	Situation in Kosovo	11	31	35	23	1	42	58
1993	Aug 8-10	U.S.-Mexico Free Trade Agreement	11	31	34	24	1	42	58
1994	Nov 28-29	Consideration of GATT in Congress	11	30	34	25	*	41	59
1999	Oct 21-24	Budget negotiations between Clinton and Congress	8	33	37	22	*	41	59
1993	Nov 2-4	Ethics investigation of Senator Packwood	10	30	30	29	1	40	59
1998	Mar 6-9	Federal investigations into Microsoft	8	30	35	25	2	38	60
1999	Sep 10-14	FALN Puerto Rican clemency controversy	12	25	26	36	1	37	62
1999	Mar 19-21	Situation in Kosovo	9	27	38	25	1	36	63
1992	Dec 18-20	Clinton economic conference in Little Rock	9	26	36	29	*	35	65
1998	Jun 5-7	Clinton race initiative	6	28	45	20	1	34	65
1999	Feb 19-21	Situation in Kosovo	4	26	36	33	1	30	69
1999	Feb 8-9	Situation in Kosovo	4	26	42	27	1	30	69
2000	May 5-7	China and the World Trade Organization	7	22	31	39	1	29	70
1994	Feb 1-3	Vote in Japan for political reforms	2	20	38	40	1	22	78
2000	Aug 11-12	CBS show "Survivor"	7	10	18	64	1	17	82

		AVERAGE	21	40	24	14	1	61	38

* Less than 0.5% VC: Very closely SC: Somewhat closely NTC: Not too closely NAAC: Not at all closely NO: No opinion

Survey Methods

The results below are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,014 adults, 18 years and older, conducted November 11-12, 2000. 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.

How closely have you been following the news about the current controversy concerning the outcome of Tuesday's presidential election -- very closely, somewhat closely, not too closely, or not at all closely?

	Very closely	Somewhat closely	Not too closely	Not at all closely	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
*2000 Nov 11-12*
National Adults	46	41	10	3	*

Gore voters	51	41	6	2	0
Bush voters	54	38	7	1	*


* Less than 0.5%

Americans Paying Close Attention to Election Controversy

What may be the most controversial election in American history draws plenty of attention from public

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