* Ex-President's Favorability Ratings Down 19 Points Since January
* Hillary Clinton's Image Also Hurt By Pardon Scandal
* CBS News/New York Times Poll, March 8-12, 2001
NEW YORK, March 14, 2001
(CBS) The scandal involving the controversial pardons of Marc Rich and others has adversely affected Americans' opinions of former President Bill Clinton, and half feel the pardon matter is serious and should be investigated.
Americans also continue to believe that Clinton's moral values are seriously out of touch with their own, and when it comes to the pardons, the public is more ready to believe Hillary Rodham Clinton than her husband.
When Bill Clinton left office in January he held some of the highest favorable ratings of the two terms he spent in the White House, but now half of Americans say they have an unfavorable opinion of him and 38 percent have a favorable one. Just last month, 48 percent had a favorable view of Clinton and 39 percent had an unfavorable view of him. Bill Clinton's favorability rating has dropped 19 points since January, and the number of those who rate him unfavorably is the highest recorded for him since he became president in 1993.
The Pardons
Sixty-six percent of Americans are following news about the pardons closely, including nearly a quarter who say they are following it very closely. When asked about the seriousness of the pardon controversy, 50 percent of Americans say the matter is serious and needs to be investigated while 43 percent think the matter has been blown out of proportion by Clinton's enemies. Those following the news very closely are more critical of Clinton's pardons – 71 percent say the pardons should be investigated, while 26 percent say the matter has been blown out of proportion.
Of course, Republicans and Democrats disagree on the seriousness of the pardon matter: 78 percent of Republicans believe the matter is serious enough to investigate, and 18 percent believe it isn't serious. On the other hand, two-thirds of Democrats feel the pardon matter has been blown out of proportion by Clinton's enemies, and only 27 percent feel Bill Clinton's pardons need to be investigated.
Americans believe the pardons granted by former President Clinton are more questionable than those granted by past presidents – 48 percent of the public believes that Clinton's pardons are more questionable, while slightly fewer (43 percent) feel the pardons issued by other presidents are just as questionable.
There are differences along party lines when it comes to this question as well. 74 percent of Republicans believe Clinton's pardons are more questionable than previous presidents, and only one in five say other presidents' pardons were just as questionable. Only 28 percent of Democrats believe Clinton's pardons are more questionable, while 59 percent say previous presidents have issued pardons that were just as questionable.
Bill Clinton and the Truth
Due to the pardon controversy, former President Clinton's honesty and integrity have come into question again. When asked about his answers regarding the presidential pardons, 38 percent of Americans believe Clinton is lying, whereas 47% believe he is being mostly truthful but hiding something. Only 9 percent think he is telling the entire truth.
More people think Clinton is lying now than thought so at the start of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. In February 1998, 22 percent of Americans said Bill Clinton was lying in his statement about Monica Lewinsky and 51 percent thought he was mostly truthful but hiding something.
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Bill Clinton isn't the only one suffering because of the pardon scandal, opinions of former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton are more negative than they were in January. Forty-one percent of Americans now have an unfavorable view of the New York senator, and 36 percent view her favorably. In January, just before the Clintons left the White House, 47 percent had a favorable view of Sen. Clinton and only 28 percent viewed her unfavorably.
When it comes to opinions about her answers to questions surrounding the presidential pardons, Sen. Clinton has an advantage over her husband. Almost half – 49 percent - of Americans believe she is mostly telling the truth but hiding something, whereas 23 percent of the public believes she is mostly lying - compared to 38 percent who feel the same way about the former president. These numbers are not much different than those recorded during the Whitewater land deal investigation. In July 1996, 24 percent said Hillary Clinton was lying about Whitewater, while 54 percent believed she was mostly telling the truth but hiding something.
Clinton's Moral Values
The public continues to seriously question the moral values of the former President – 68 percent say that Bill Clinton does not share the values most Americans try to live by, and only 27 percent say that he does share those values. Clinton's moral values are viewed more negatively now than they were in January right before he left office, but are about the same as they were during the impeachment trial in the fall of 1998 when 66 percent thought Clinton's morals were out of touch with most Americans.
However, this current assessment of Clinton's moral values is quite different than it was five years ago. In March 1996, 59 percent of voters felt Clinton did share the moral values most Americans try to live by, the highest number recorded since he became president in 1993. Only 34 percent thought he did not.
This poll was conducted by telephone March 8-12, 2001, among 1,105 adults nationwide. The error due to sampling could be plus or minus three percentage points for results based on the entire sample. Sampling error for subgroups may be higher.
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