Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 2, 1993 TAG: 9311020183
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The poll found Americans deeply disturbed by the way things are going at home and abroad. Their backing for Clinton and his policies - domestic as well as foreign - dropped after the deaths of 18 American soldiers in Somalia.
Solid majorities opposed sending U.S. troops overseas to restore law and order, but also supported using them to help avert famine.
The survey by Times Mirror Center for the People & the Press includes results from interviews with a population sample of 3,200 as well as with 649 people identified as leaders in nine areas - the media, business, culture, state and local government, religion, academia, foreign affairs, defense and security, and science and engineering.
The survey reported the responses from what it called "America's influentials" by each group. It did not combine them.
The center conducted telephone interviews with 2,000 people in the sample of the general public between Sept. 9-15. The results have a margin of error of 2 percent, meaning the figures could be off by that much in either direction. Another 1,200 people were interviewed between Oct. 21-24 to get a reading on the impact of the violence in Somalia. The margin of error was 3 percent.
After the deaths in Somalia, 44 percent said they approved of Clinton's job performance, and 42 percent said they disapproved. A month earlier, 49 percent approved, and 35 percent disapproved.
Assessments of Clinton's handling of foreign policy flipped during the same period. Before the killings in Somalia, 47 percent said they approved, and 33 percent disapproved. In mid-October, 39 percent said they approved and 46 percent said they disapproved.
Andrew Kohut, director of the center, said the figures suggested that "when people get down on the president on foreign policy, it spills over."
When asked how things were going in the United States, 73 percent said they were dissatisfied, and 22 percent said they were satisfied. On their view of the world, 81 percent said they were dissatisfied with the way things were going, and only 12 percent were satisfied.
A 76 percent majority wanted Clinton to concentrate on domestic policy; only 13 percent, on foreign policy.
Reflecting the same inward-looking trend, the public's top foreign policy goal was "protecting the jobs of American workers." Ranking second was preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, which was the top goal of all nine groups of leaders.
In several instances, the opinions of the general public differed markedly from those of the influentials.
The general public was less interested than the influentials in promoting democracy and insisting on human rights abroad.
One of the sharpest differences was on the question of whether U.S. forces should serve under United Nations command. A majority of each group of influentials supported that idea. Only 25 percent of the general public approved.
The public is closely divided on the North American Free Trade Agreement, with 46 percent in favor and 42 percent opposed. By contrast, every group of the influentials was overwhelmingly in favor of NAFTA.
When asked about America's leadership role in the world, 51 percent of the general public said it should be no more or less than other major nations, 27 percent said it should be more active, and 10 percent said the United States should be the single world leader.
by CNB