GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- The Senate hearings looking into alleged campaign finance abuses by both political parties have yet to capture the public's imagination or to diminish Americans' positive view of the investigation's primary target, President Clinton. A recent Gallup poll finds that few Americans think the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee has produced new information about the Republican or Democratic Parties' 1996 fundraising practices. In fact, when asked to look ahead, most Americans don't think the hearings will ever succeed in this effort.
While congressional Republicans have attempted to focus most of their attention on the Democrats' fundraising practices, a majority of Americans think both political parties were guilty of unethical fundraising in the 1996 elections. Slightly more than half of the public, 55%, say the Republican Party was unethical and close to two-thirds, 63%, say the Democratic Party was unethical.
When pressed to say which party was more unethical, however, the Democratic Party is clearly seen as worse, with 35% of those polled picking the Democrats and only 15% picking the Republicans. Another 13% say the parties were equally unethical; the remainder say neither party or are unsure.
Americans Skeptical about Committee
The hearings, led by Committee Chairman Fred Thompson, Republican
from Tennessee, began in early July and are currently on hold while
Congress is in recess until September. Only 39% of Americans think
that the committee has so far uncovered any new information about
the 1996 political fundraising; close to half (49%) think it has
not.
Americans are almost as doubtful about the future of the investigation, with just 44% saying the Senate committee is likely to uncover new information. This includes 12% who think it is very likely and 32% who think it is somewhat likely. However, most Americans are skeptics, saying it is unlikely they will succeed in discovering anything new: 23% say it's somewhat unlikely and 31% say very unlikely this will happen.
Public opinion over these hearings is not strongly partisan, as Democrats tend to be only slightly more skeptical about the campaign finance hearings than Republicans. Fifty-five percent of Democrats compared to 46% of Republicans think the committee is unlikely to uncover anything new.
Clinton Thus Far Unscathed
Throughout the hearing, President Clinton's job approval rating
from the American public has remained in the upper fifties,
including the most recent 58% rating. In late May, prior to the
start of the hearings, his job rating was 57% -- suggesting that
the slow trickle of news about foreign contributions and improper
fundraising has had no major impact on his reputation.
One set of charges that the public does seem to believe are those against Democratic fundraiser and former Clinton Administration official, John Huang. Approximately six in ten Americans think Huang arranged illegal foreign contributions to the Democratic Party and passed confidential U.S. government information to China in 1996. However, the message from the poll, and from Clinton's stable approval ratings, seems to be that the public is not overly concerned with these violations.
Moreover, most Americans who believe Huang broke the law also believe that Clinton knew about it, representing about one in four Americans. Nevertheless a perhaps surprisingly large minority of this group, about 30%, still approve of the job Clinton is doing as president.
METHODOLOGY
The results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly
selected national sample of 1,004 adults, 18 years and older,
conducted July 25-27, 1997. For results based on samples of this
size, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the error
attributable to sampling and other random effects could be 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.
As you may know, the Senate is currently conducting hearings investigating the 1996 fundraising practices of both parties. How likely is it that these hearings will produce any new information about these matters -- very likely, somewhat likely, somewhat unlikely, or very unlikely?
| Very likely | 12% |
| Somewhat likely | 32 |
| Somewhat unlikely | 23 |
| Very unlikely | 31 |
| Not familiar with hearings (vol.) | 1 |
| No opinion | 1 |
| ___ | |
| 100% |
From what you've heard or read, do you think the Senate committee investigating these fundraising practices already has or has not produced new information?
| Has | 39% |
| Has not | 49 |
| Not familiar with hearings (vol.) | 5 |
| No opinion | 7 |
| ___ | |
| 100% |
Do you think the [Republican Party/Democratic Party] did anything unethical, or not, in the way it raised campaign funds for the 1996 elections? How about the [Democratic Party/Republican Party] -- do you think it did anything unethical, or not, in the way it raised campaign funds for the 1996 elections? (ROTATED)
| Did | Did not | No opinion | |
| Democratic Party | 63% | 25 | 12 |
| Republican Party | 55% | 30 | 15 |
Which party do you think was more unethical in the way it raised campaign funds for the 1996 elections -- The Republican Party, or, the Democratic Party? (ROTATED)
| Democratic Party | 35% |
| Republican Party | 15 |
| Equally unethical (vol.) | 13 |
| Neither unethical (vol.) | 21 |
| No opinion | 16 |
| ___ | |
| 100% |