Public Calls Trial Partisan, Wants It to End Quickly

Americans overwhelmingly view the Senate trial of President Clinton as a partisan exercise and favor a swift resolution, ending in either censure or dismissal of the case, according to a new Los Angeles Times Poll.

While Americans have grave doubts about Clinton’s personal character--and believe House prosecutors have proved that he perjured himself in denying sexual relations with Monica S. Lewinsky--there remains strong opposition to removing Clinton from office.

Further, most Americans oppose efforts to extend the impeachment trial by calling witnesses--a move Republicans approved last week on a near party-line vote--and strongly doubt the Senate will muster the 67 votes needed to oust Clinton.

Given that the Senate is unlikely to remove Clinton, whose job approval numbers remain high, Americans are closely divided over how the case should end. Forty-nine percent favor censuring the president for his affair with Lewinsky, an option being floated by some Senate Democrats. Forty-six percent believe the matter should simply be dropped.

“Of course he committed perjury,” said Levette Perkinson, a 37-year-old executive secretary in Greensboro, N.C., who was interviewed for The Times Poll. “But he’s not going to be taken out of office. I don’t believe they have the votes, so they might as well stop. It’s just a waste of time.”

Overall, most Americans take an equally dim view of the Senate proceedings, now about to enter a fourth week. By 59% to 36%, Americans believe that congressional Republicans are conducting the Senate trial for partisan purposes, to hurt the Democratic president, rather than out of concern for protecting the country’s moral and legal fabric.

Similarly, by 62% to 30%, most Americans say the decision to summon three witnesses--Lewinsky, presidential friend Vernon E. Jordan Jr. and White House aide Sidney Blumenthal--was spurred more by partisanship than efforts to get at the truth.

Whatever the motivations for impeachment, Clinton continues to boast strong job approval ratings, as he has throughout the year-old Lewinsky scandal, a reflection of his highly popular policies. Sixty-seven percent give the president positive marks, while only 46% approve of the job being done by the GOP-run Congress. A like 46% disapprove of Congress’ job performance.

For all the time and energy expended over the last 12 months on the Lewinsky affair, the survey shows that public opinion has been remarkably static. Clinton’s current 67% job approval rating compares to 68% exactly one year ago. His 57% favorable impression is precisely the same as it was at the end of January 1998.

State of Union Proposals Backed

On other issues, sizable majorities supported many of the proposals outlined in Clinton’s State of the Union address, including his calls to use the federal budget surplus to bolster Social Security and Medicare, boost defense spending, raise the federal minimum wage and push for more accountability in public education.

The Times Poll, under the direction of Susan Pinkus, surveyed 960 adults nationwide Wednesday through Friday. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The strong backing for Clinton that shows up in the survey stems from support for his policies, not his probity.

By 48% to 46%, Americans are divided over whether Clinton has the honesty and integrity to serve as president. Seventy-seven percent say Clinton fails to share their moral values. Fifty-five percent say they dislike Clinton as a person.

But 66% say they like Clinton’s policies, and 59% believe the country is better off as a result of his job performance over the last six years.

David Taylor, who works at the Boeing plant in Wichita, Kan., reflects those sentiments. “I don’t approve of some of his personal activities . . . ,” the 48-year-old Taylor said. “But our economy is good, our unemployment rate is the lowest I can ever recall and, as a taxpayer and homeowner, I feel I’m getting more for my tax dollar than I ever have.”

Overall, 73% of Americans approve of Clinton’s handling of the economy; 61% approve of his handling of Social Security reform; 63% approve of Clinton’s handling of foreign affairs and 58% approve of his handling of the federal budget surplus.

The upshot: by 57% to 40%, Americans have a favorable overall impression of Clinton, notwithstanding the doubts about his personal integrity.

In contrast, by 41% to 38%, Americans have a slightly more negative than positive impression of the GOP-run Congress, which has spent most of the last two months pursuing Clinton’s ouster for his affair with former White House intern Lewinsky.

Asked who has the better ideas to solve the problems facing America, 51% said Clinton and 30% said the Republicans in Congress. Taking a longer view, 37% said they believe Clinton will go down in history as a better-than-average president, 22% said average and 36% below average.

For now, Clinton’s fate rests in the hands of the 100 members of the U.S. Senate.

With practically daily installments over the last three weeks, 61% of Americans say they have closely followed the impeachment trial, only the second of a president in the nation’s history.

Judging the evidence for themselves, a plurality of Americans--44% to 37%--believe House prosecutors proved that Clinton committed perjury before a federal grand jury by denying having sexual relations with Lewinsky. However, by 48% to 33%, Americans say prosecutors failed to prove obstruction of justice, the second of the two charges contained in articles of impeachment voted last month by the House of Representatives.

Based on all they have seen or heard, Americans remain firmly in Clinton’s corner: 65% say they oppose his removal from office, while 29% are in favor.

There are vast differences of opinion, however, based on partisan leanings, which may explain why GOP lawmakers, mindful of mollifying their political base, continue to pursue impeachment in the face of the president’s strong overall support.

Most Republicans Want Clinton’s Ouster

While 91% of Democrats and 60% of independents oppose Clinton’s ouster, a sizable majority of Republicans--62%--believe the president should be removed from office.

Similarly, while 84% of Democrats and 54% of independents believe the proceedings are intended to hurt Clinton politically, 68% of Republicans believe the GOP Congress is pursuing Clinton’s ouster for the good of the country.

Most Democrats, 83%, and independents, 62%, see partisanship behind the move to call witnesses. However, 59% of Republicans say the purpose is to ascertain the truth in the Lewinsky matter.

Whatever the tribulations, most Americans remain confident that Clinton, at least, has not gotten bogged down by either the Senate trial or the stain of the House vote on impeachment.

Sixty-seven percent believe he can effectively do his job in the last two years of his presidency, and Clinton enjoys strong support for many of the particulars he laid out in his State of the Union address.

An overwhelming 78% of Americans endorsed the president’s proposal to bolster Social Security by using roughly 60% of the federal budget surplus over the next 15 years to extend its solvency by two decades. Eighty-six percent favored using $600 billion of the surplus to boost Medicare, the health care program for the elderly.

Other Clinton proposals for spending the surplus enjoyed similarly strong support: 83% supported a child-care tax credit; 81% favored a $1 hike in the federal minimum wage over the next two years; 77% favored more spending on defense, and 59% favored higher education spending, tied to greater school accountability.

By 62% to 24%, Americans also endorse a so-called consumer bill of rights, proposed in Clinton’s address, that would guarantee health-care decisions are made by doctors and ensure the confidentiality of patient records.

Americans of Two Minds

On the matter of taxes versus spending, Americans are evidently of two minds. Asked directly which they would prefer--more spending or an across-the-board tax cut--52% favor lower taxes and 35% support expanded programs.

But when the particulars of Clinton’s proposal were outlined, sentiments shifted. Fifty-four percent then said they prefer the president’s plan for spending the surplus, compared with 41% who favored getting the money back in the form of a tax cut.

Americans, however, side with Republicans on one matter involving structural reform of the Social Security system.

Clinton has called for the federal government to invest a quarter of the Social Security fund in stocks, bonds and other securities, to increase returns and shore up financing of the system. Republicans, calling the plan creeping socialism, are strongly opposed and so are the American people, by 65% to 24%.

Similarly, Republicans enjoy strong support for proposals to give individuals more freedom to financially plan for their own retirements.

In his State of the Union speech, Clinton called for creation of “universal savings accounts,” funded with $500 billion of the projected surplus over 15 years, that would be used to match contributions to individual retirement plans, in addition to payments people receive from Social Security.

Alternatively, Republicans say part of the existing payroll tax should be diverted from the Social Security system and used to set up individual retirement accounts. Americans would then be free to invest that money as they see fit. By 54% to 33%, a majority of Americans support the GOP plan.

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High Marks

The public overwhelmingly believes that President Clinton should not be removed from office and gives him high marks for the way he is doing his job, the Los Angeles Times Poll found.

Should the Senate vote to convict President Clinton and remove him from office or not?

Don’t know: 6%

Yes, convict: 29%

No, do not convict: 65%

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Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bill Clinton is handling. . .

. . .his job as president?

Approve: 67%

Disapprove: 30

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. . .the economy?

Approve: 73%

Disapprove: 17

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. . .foreign affairs?

Approve: 63%

Disapprove: 28

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. . .the federal budget surplus?

Approve: 58%

Disapprove: 26

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. . .Social Security?

Approve: 61%

Disapprove: 25

Source: L.A. Times Poll

Impeachment Poll

Americans continue to strongly support President Clinton’s policies and job performance, despite doubts about his personal character. A majority view the Senate impeachment trial as a partisan exercise and favor a swift conclusion that leaves Clinton in office.

In the Senate trial of President Clinton, did the Republican House managers prove their case that. . .

. . .Clinton committed perjury before the grand jury?

Proved: 41%

Failed to prove: 37%

Don’t know: 19%

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. . .Clinton obstructed justice?

Proved: 33%

Failed to prove: 48%

Don’t know: 19%

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Which statement comes closer to your view?

“Republicans in Congress are pursuing impeachment primarily because they are concerned about the impact of Clinton’s actions on the legal and moral fabric of the country.”: 36%

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“Republicans in Congress are pursuing impeachment primarily because they want to hurt Clinton politically.” 59%

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When the Senate voted against dismissing the case against Clinton and voted to allow witnesses to be called, do you think these decisions were primarily motivated by a search for the truth or by partisan politics?

Search for the truth: 30%

Partisan politics: 62%

Don’t know: 8%

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Do you think it is necessary or not necessary to call witnesses?

Necessary: 37%

Not Necessary: 60%

Don’t know: 3%

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Why do you think calling witnesses is necessary?

(ASKED OF THOSE WHO SAID “NECESSARY”; ACCEPTED TWO REPLIES; TOP THREE RESPONSES SHOWN)

To get at the contradictions: 35%

To give both sides a chance to question witnesses: 26%

Trials always have witnesses: 22%

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Why do you think calling witnesses is unnecessary?

(ASKED OF THOSE WHO SAID “NOT NECESSARY”; ACCEPTED TWO REPLIES; TOP TWO RESPONSES SHOWN)

It would just be a rehash of testimony they’ve already given: 66%

It would extend the trail too long: 33%

Notes: Numbers may not total 100% when more than one response was accepted or some answer categories are not shown.

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How The Poll Was Conducted: The Times Poll contacted 960 adults nationwide by telephone Jan. 27-29. Telephone numbers were chosen from a list of all exchanges in the nation. Random-digit dialing techniques were used so that listed and non-listed numbers could be contacted. The entire sample was weighted slightly to conform with census figures for sex, race, age, education, and region. The margin of sampling error for the entire sample is plus or minus three percentage points. For certain subgroups the error margin may be somewhat higher. Poll results can also be affected by other factors such as question wording and the order in which questions are presented.

Source: L.A. Times Poll