Poll: Most People Would Believe DNA Evidence If It's There
But most people do not favor impeachment
By Keating Holland/CNN
WASHINGTON (July 31) -- If the dress Monica Lewinsky has provided to investigators is shown to have semen stains, most Americans would favor an attempt to take a blood sample from President Bill Clinton to determine whether he was the source of those stains, according to a new CNN-TIME Poll.
The survey, released Friday, also suggests that DNA evidence -- if it exists -- would be very convincing to the public.
Sixty-five percent of people who currently do not believe that Clinton and Lewinsky had sex would change their minds if a DNA test linked Clinton to stains on the dress.
Overall, 71 percent of all Americans would tend to believe that he and Lewinsky had an affair if a DNA test showed that stains belong to Clinton.
Of course, 60 percent tend to believe that allegation even before it is known whether there is any physical evidence on the dress. That 60 percent is up 4 points from May and 13 points from April.
Nonetheless, Clinton's approval rating remains high, and most Americans believe that Clinton's sexual behavior is not relevant to how he should be judged in office.
The survey is based on interviews with 811 adults July 30, and has a margin of sampling error of +/- 3.5 percentage points for general questions and +/- 4 percentage points for a sub-sample of registered voters.
| Should Clinton Give A Blood Sample? |
Yes
No |
55%
37% |
| If DNA Test Links Clinton To Dress Stains, Believe That Clinton... |
Had affair
Did not have affair |
71%
21% |
| Currently Believe That Clinton... |
Had affair
Did not have affair |
60%
24% |
| Believe That Clinton Had Affair With Monica Lewinsky |
Now
May
April |
60%
56%
47% |
| How Clinton Handling His Job as President |
Approve
Disapprove |
62%
31% |
| Clinton's Sexual Behavior While President |
Relevant
Not relevant |
35%
61% |
Seven out of ten Americans do not think that Congress should impeach Clinton and remove him from office, but impeachment currently does not appear to have any effect on the midterm elections in November.
If Independent Counsel Ken Starr submits a report to Congress, what do American voters want their own member of Congress to do?
By a 49-42 percent margin, most voters say they want their member of Congress to oppose a congressional investigation into whether to impeach Clinton. Support for a congressional investigation is much higher than support for impeachment itself.
What about the midterm elections? Twenty-seven percent of all registered voters say that they would be less likely to vote for a member of Congress who supports impeachment, while 19 percent say they would be more likely to vote for an impeachment supporter. But nearly half say that would not affect their vote.
What about a member of Congress who opposed impeachment? Twenty-three percent of all registered voters would be more likely to vote for an impeachment opponent, while 20 percent would be more likely to vote against. What this means is that supporting impeachment would cost a member of Congress a few votes while opposing impeachment would make little difference, but as it stands right now, most voters say they will pay no attention to the issue in November.
| Impeach Clinton? |
Yes
No |
22%
70% |
| Should Your Member of Congress Support Impeachment Investigation? |
Yes
No |
42%
50% |
| Registered voters Sampling error: +/-4% pts |
| Likely To Vote For Supporter of Impeachment? |
More likely
Less likely
No effect |
19%
27%
47% |
| Registered voters Sampling error: +/-4% pts |
| Likely To Vote For Opponent of Impeachment? |
More likely
Less likely
No effect |
23%
20%
49% |
| Registered voters Sampling error: +/-4% pts |
But has Clinton committed an impeachable offense? Only 39 percent say that lying under oath about having an affair with Lewinsky is serious enough for Congress to consider impeachment; 37 percent say the matter is serious but not enough for impeachment, and 20 percent say it is not a serious matter. Only 27 percent say that asking Lewinsky to deny the affair is serious enough to warrant an impeachment investigation, and 29 percent say the same about asking Betty Currie, Clinton's secretary, to hide the affair from investigators.
Investigators, of course, are likely to ask Clinton about all of those allegations when Clinton testifies on Aug. 17.
Sixty-eight percent say that Clinton's decision to testify is good for the country, but only a bare majority believe that he will tell the truth in his testimony. Forty-three percent say he is not likely to testify truthfully.
| Lying Under Oath About Affair With Monica Lewinsky |
Impeach
Serious matter
Not serious |
39%
37%
20% |
| Asking Monica Lewinsky To Deny Affair |
Impeach
Serious matter
Not serious |
27%
42%
26% |
| Asking Betty Currie To Hide Affair From Investigators |
Impeach
Serious matter
Not serious |
29%
40%
35% |
|
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