Public Growing More Pessimistic in Levy Case

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ – As the Chandra Levy mystery enters its fourth month, a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows that Americans are becoming less optimistic that the case of the missing intern will ever be solved. The survey, conducted the weekend of Aug. 3-5, shows that 51% of those surveyed believe the case will not be solved, while 39% believe there will eventually be a resolution. This represents a shift in public opinion from two previous Gallup polls conducted in July, when 51% of Americans in each poll were optimistic that the case would be solved.

Do you think the case involving the disappearance of Chandra Levy will ever be solved, or not?

Americans still continue to follow the Levy story; in fact, more say they are following the story in the most recent poll than did so last month. Currently, 69% indicate that they are following details of the disappearance "very or somewhat closely." In a mid-July Gallup poll, 62% expressed the same level of interest.

Condit Still Linked to Disappearance in Public's Eyes

California Rep. Gary Condit has maintained his lack of knowledge about details of Levy's disappearance, and his attorney claims a privately conducted polygraph test supports that claim. Washington police have repeatedly said Condit is not a suspect in what is still officially described as a "missing person case," however, a majority of the American public continues to believe that Condit was involved in Levy's disappearance – the new poll shows that 65% of those surveyed believe it is "very likely" or "somewhat likely" that Condit was directly involved. This is consistent with the findings from two Gallup polls conducted in July.

Condit and the missing intern have been linked romantically, though the California Democrat has never acknowledged that relationship publicly. Even so, the public is split on whether Condit's ties to the case should lead to his resignation from Congress. Forty-three percent believe that he should resign immediately, while 51% say he should not. However, among those Americans who have been following the case closely, the split is much closer – 48% support Condit's immediate resignation and 50% oppose it. The split falls along party lines, with 53% of Republicans wanting him to resign now and 41% opposed to the idea, while 55% of Democrats reject the idea of resignation and 41% support it.

Media Interest in Case Coming Under More Scrutiny

The Levy case has been a daily fixture on all-news cable networks and nightly network newscasts, as well as the supermarket tabloids. While a majority of Americans have been following the case closely, their satisfaction with the media's handling of the case is starting to drop. The latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows that 53% of Americans say the media has acted responsibly in covering the Levy story, while 39% say the media is acting irresponsibly. This represents a drop from mid-July, when 61% said the media was acting responsibly and just 30% said the media was acting irresponsibly.

Among those who are following the case closely in the latest poll, 60% think that the media is acting responsibly and just 37% say irresponsibly. Those who are not following the case closely are more negative in their evaluations of the media (45% irresponsible and 38% responsible).

Survey Methods

The results below are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,017 adults, 18 years and older, conducted Aug. 3-5, 2001. 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 concerning the investigation into the disappearance of Chandra Levy -- very closely, somewhat closely, not too closely, or not at all?

 

	Very closely	Somewhat closely	Not too closely	Not at all	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2001 Aug 3-5	22	47	20	11	*
2001 Jul 19-22	22	40	25	12	1
2001 Jul 10-11	20	43	22	15	*
*Less than 0.5%

Do you think the case involving the disappearance of Chandra Levy will ever be solved, or not?

 

	Yes, will be solved	No, will not	No opinion
	%	%	%
2001 Aug 3-5	39	51	10
2001 Jul 19-22	51	38	11
2001 Jul 10-11	51	35	14

How likely do you think it is that Gary Condit was directly involved in the disappearance of Chandra Levy -- very likely, somewhat likely, not too likely, or not at all likely?

 

	Very  likely	Somewhat likely	Not too likely	Not at all likely	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2001 Aug 3-5	29	36	17	10	8
2001 Jul 19-22	24	40	16	10	10
2001 Jul 10-11	28	37	13	7	15

 

 

Should Gary Condit resign from Congress immediately, or not?

 

 

 

	Yes, should	No, should not	No opinion
2001 Aug 3-5	43%	51	6

 

 

 

Overall, do you feel that the news media have acted responsibly or irresponsibly in this situation?

 

	Responsibly	Irresponsibly	No opinion
	%	%	%
2001 Aug 3-5	53	39	8
2001 Jul 10-11	61	30	9