A CNN/ USA TODAY/ GALLUP POLL
Aug. 25, 1996

A CNN/ USA TODAY/ GALLUP POLL

CLINTON APPROVAL RATING

Interviews with 1,188 adult Americans, including 1,003 registered voters, conducted August 23-25, 1996

Registered Voters' Presidential Choice

              Now         August 16-18

Clinton       50 percent       48 percent
Dole          38               41
Perot          7                7

Sampling error: +/-3 percent pts

Bill Clinton now has a 12-point lead over Bob Dole in a three-way race. That's up from the seven-point lead Clinton had last week, and indicates that Bob Dole's convention "bounce" may have started to fade. In a three-way race, Clinton wins 50 percent of all registered voters (up two points from last week), Dole 38 percent (down three points), and Perot at 7 percent (no gain after the Reform Party convention). Although Clinton's lead has widened, it is still not nearly as high as the 22-point lead he had going into the Republican Convention. In a two-way race, the Clinton/Gore ticket beats the Dole/Kemp ticket by 54 percent-41 percent.

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Clinton Approval Rating

Approve        53 percent
Disapprove     39

Sampling error: +/-3 percent pts

Clinton goes into his convention with 53 percent of the country approving of how he is handling his job as President, and about as many approve of how he is handling the economy and foreign policy. But on a variety of key issues, Clinton shows some strengths and some surprising weaknesses, which may be reflected in the issues the Democrats choose to address this week. A majority of all voters approve of how he is handling the environment, education, crime and welfare policy. (On welfare policy, Clinton's signing of the welfare reform bill has led to a 19-point gain in his approval rating on that subject since March. Clinton has also gained notably since March on the crime issue.) But a majority disapprove of how he is handling the federal budget deficit, and he scores low on taxes, Medicare, and health care policy as well -- the last two being issues the Democrats often emphasize. A majority disapprove of how Clinton is handling the problem of drug abuse, but they love his policy on tobacco and smoking.

Clinton Approval - Economy and Foreign Policy

                Approve          Disapprove

Economy          54 percent        40 percent
Foreign policy   53                40

Sampling error: +/-3 percent pts

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Clinton Approval - Education, Welfare, Environment, And Crime

             Approve           Disapprove

Education      60 percent        33 percent
Welfare        58                35
Environment    58                31
Crime          56                37

Sampling error: +/-3 percent pts

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Clinton Approval - Taxes, Medicare, Deficit, And Health Care
             Approve           Disapprove

Taxes           45 percent       49 percent
Medicare        44               46
Deficit         43               50
Health care     42               49

Sampling error: +/-3 percent pts

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Clinton Approval - Tobacco And Drug Abuse

            Approve           Disapprove

Tobacco        63 percent       30 percent
Drug abuse     43               50

Sampling error: +/-3 percent pts

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Hillary Clinton's Influence

               Now             January

Positive        47 percent      40 percent
Negative        47              54


Sampling error: +/-3 percent pts

The public is evenly split over whether Hillary Rodham Clinton's influence on her husband's administration has been generally positive or generally negative. Even so, that is an improvement from January, when a majority felt that she had been a negative influence on the administration.

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