By: Mary Mostert, Analyst, Original Sources
September 23, 1998
Throughout the world today the headline news is that now the overwhelming majority of the American people believe Bill Clinton lied. This is news? I wrote about this on February 2nd and pointed out that the then just completed Gallup Poll, which first asked what the people believed about (a)the allegation that Bill Clinton had sexual relations of any kind with Monica Lewinsky - 55% of those polled believed he had. After nine months of White House Spin, stonewalling, media hype and investigation, the Gallup Poll released yesterday indicates that a whopping 81% of those polled believe now that Clinton not only HAD sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky, but definitely or probably lied under oath about it.
However, Gallup reports, only 32% said he should be impeached and only 39% said he should resign. Does that indicate, as we are being told that the Gallup poll "proves" the American people "just don't care" about the President lying under oath and we want him to serve out his term? That is what most news sources are telling us.
Well, folks, actually, that was not one of the questions that Gallup asked. They asked first do you think he should be impeached, and second, do you think he should resign? My own private poll shows - based on copies sent to me of letters to members of Congress - an overwhelmingly majority are demanding either impeachment OR resignation. The people have very strong opinions which they are voicing quite eloquently to their members of Congress. I have not tallied the percentages, but have noticed few of the letters say, "Either ask for the President's resignation or impeach him." The people, voicing their OWN opinions, not those of a pollster, usually want one or the other, for reasons of their own which they often describe.
Many angry people do not want him to resign, because they don't want him to get a lifelong pension. Others would prefer he resign to save the nation the agony and embarrassment of weeks or months of public testimony about sex in the White House. Then there are those, often highly partisan Republicans, don't want either, preferring that he dangle slowly in the wind until after the election. People, however, are jolly well sick of the whole thing and especially sick of hearing about Bill Clinton's warped definitions of sex. People with young children especially tend to hope he'll resign so they can let their kids watch TV again without being exposed to pornography from the White House.
So, what does the Gallup Poll REALLY mean? Does it mean that 71% (32% impeach plus 39% resign) of the people believe Clinton needs to vacate the White House, either by resignation OR impeachment? Based on a previous Gallup poll, that may be closer to the truth than the claim that the majority just doesn't care. Remember the first of the in depth Gallup polls in on January 25-26 showed that 56% believed that Clinton had an affair with Lewinsky and lied about it, with only 36% believing it was probably not true or definitely not true.
During that poll Gallup asked another question, very close to the "either impeachment or resignation" question that was NOT asked in yesterday's poll: "If it turned out to be true that Bill Clinton lied under oath about having sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky, how serious would you consider this matter -- very serious, somewhat serious, not too serious or not serious at all?" a whopping 81% would consider that somewhat to very serious.
The January poll also asked whether it would be serious or not serious: "If it turned out to be true that Bill Clinton participated in an effort to obstruct justice by getting Monica Lewinsky to lie under oath about their sexual relations." In January 83% said that they would consider that somewhat to very serious and only 13% would say it was not too serious or not serious at all.
Taking it one step farther, Gallup asked in January: "If you were convinced that Bill Clinton lied under oath about his involvement with Monica Lewinsky, would you favor or oppose an effort to impeach Clinton and remove him from office?" The poll found that 47% would favor impeachment and 47% would oppose impeachment, with 6% with no opinion. The resignation option was not asked.
The Gallup Poll yesterday found that an overwhelmingly majority of Americans now believe that Clinton not only had sex with Monica Lewinsky, but lied about it under oath. If that January poll was accurate, Gallup must believe that the majority of the American people, or at least 47% of those polled, would want him removed from office - either by resignation or impeachment. However, note that they never ask that question. What we do know is the American people are really sick and tired of all this. They want it to go away. However, it is most interesting that Gallup and other major polls never ask: "Do you favor resignation or impeachment of the President to halt the investigation and daily sex talk in the news?" (A Fox News Poll did ask that and found, interestingly, that 47% of the people now favor either resignation or impeachment.)
The questions asked, and not asked, in the polls are part of the spin going on in this situation. Most Americans seem to feel that they are being deceived - and they are - but can't put their finger on the problem. All they know is that none of the poll "results" seem to reflect THEIR experience. And they don't. The reason is simple. The people have opinions, and many of them are strong opinions on this issue. But none of the questions being asked really express their own views. Then the results are spun the fit the result desired. You want to keep Clinton? The media worldwide today are telling the population of the planet that you are satisfied with Bill Clinton's morals, or lack thereof, and you don't care about his lying under oath.
To see entire Gallup Poll and the questions asked go to: September 21, Gallup Poll
To comment: mmostert@originalsources.com