Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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The Talking Points The day after the Lewinsky story broke, news organizations learned that on Jan. 14 Monica Lewinsky had handed Linda Tripp a three-page document that began “Points to make in an affidavit.” The memo, which was dubbed the “talking points” in Newsweek’s America on-line report, bedeviled news organizations for months though it scarcely […]
Poorly Attended Election — Followed Closely Although the elections did not produce the partisan upheaval seen four years ago, Americans paid just as close attention to news about the outcome of this year’s contests as they did to the results in 1994. Some 42% of Americans followed news stories about election results very closely this […]
The Blue Dress The press was largely on the mark in its reporting on the dress that quickly became central to the Clinton-Lewinsky story. ABC’s early reporting turned out to be highly accurate. The stain did turn out to be the president’s semen. And although Lewinsky in her testimony maintained the dress wasn’t, as ABC […]
Who’s Voting Although turnout may be slightly lower this year than in 1994, there are no substantial differences in the composition of those most likely to go to the polls. As in the last midterm election, voters will be disproportionately older (49% over age 50, just 9% of those under 30), better educated and more […]
Vernon Jordan News organizations indicated almost immediately that Kenneth Starr was investigating Vernon Jordan for obstruction of justice. The reports said that Starr had tapes on which Monica Lewinsky said Jordan told her she should lie about her relationship with President Clinton. The initial Jan. 21 Washington Post story, for instance, reported that Lewinsky told […]
Introduction and Summary American voters divided their support for Republican and Democratic congressional candidates nearly equally in the weeks between President Clinton’s televised admission that he had an improper relationship with Monica Lewinsky and news of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr’s report to Congress on the matter. But with two months to go until the midterm […]
Summary of Findings Phone Calls, Not Polls, May Sway Congress FINDING 1: The percentage of Americans saying President Clinton has the moral standing to lead the country fell in the wake of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr’s report, leaving the country divided: 48% of the public say yes; 43% say no. In late August, a solid […]
Congressional Ballot Remains Close Republicans have not garnered a big boost with voters from either the ongoing Clinton scandal or the recent upswing in the GOP’s image. Support for the two parties remains split both among registered voters (45% Republican vs. 46% Democrat) and the more narrowly-defined group of most likely voters (48% Republican vs. […]
Introduction and Summary Americans credit a strong economy and, to a lesser extent, a good foreign policy as reasons why they approve of the president’s job performance, even though they increasingly dislike Bill Clinton personally. Further, strong public criticism of the way he has handled the Monica Lewinsky matter has failed to shake Clinton’s approval […]