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Americans Support U.S. Role In Bosnia

But a new poll shows the public is still wary of an open-ended commitment

By Keating Holland/CNN

Poll

WASHINGTON (Dec. 22) -- For the first time, the American public approves of the presence of U.S. troops in Bosnia. But most Americans disapprove of President Bill Clinton's decision to keep the troops in Bosnia beyond his original June deadline for bringing them home, according to a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll.

Only 43 percent of all Americans agree with Clinton's decision to keep troops in Bosnia indefinitely. But in a significant shift, nearly half the public approves of the presence of U.S. troops there, a 10-point shift since June.

Nonetheless, only 28 percent of the country thinks the Clinton Administration has a clear policy in Bosnia.

The new poll is based on interviews with 1,005 adults done Dec. 18-21, and the survey has a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.

U.S. Troops In Bosnia?

Approve
Disapprove
Now
49%
43%
June
39%
53%
Clinton's Decision To Keep Troops in Bosnia Indefinitely
Approve
Disapprove
43%
50%
Does Clinton Have Clear Policy in Bosnia?
Yes
No
28%
60%

Satisfaction with the economy

On another subject, Americans are satisfied with the state of the nation's economy, but do not feel the same way about the state of race relations in the U.S. And while satisfaction with economic conditions has increased since the start of the year, satisfaction with race relations has dropped somewhat. Nearly a majority believe the economy is in excellent or good shape; only 42 percent of people surveyed felt that way at the start of the year.

That's good news for Clinton, whose current favorable rating of 58 percent is just about where it was when the year began. Hillary Rodham Clinton, at 56 percent, is also as popular as she was in January. But it has not been a good year for Vice President Al Gore. Gore's favorable rating, now at 50 percent, is 10 points lower than it was in the first week of 1997.

Satisfied With...

Economy
Race relations
Now
63%
43%
June
58%
49%
Economic Conditions Today

Excellent/good
Only fair/poor
Now
48%
50%
June
42%
58%
Recent Economic News
Mostly good
Mostly bad
51%
37%
Favorable Ratings

Bill Clinton
Hillary Clinton
Al Gore
Now
58%
56%
50%
June
60%
56%
60%
Gore Favorable Rating

Favorable
Unfavorable
Now
50%
37%
June
60%
26%


In Other News:

Monday Dec. 22, 1997

Gore Announces $865 Million In Homeless Grants
Clinton To Propose Targeted Tax Cuts

Poll:
Americans Support U.S. Role In Bosnia





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