ABC News/Washington Post Poll, January 1995 (ICPSR 3836)

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This poll, conducted January 26-29, 1995, is part of a series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked to give their opinions of President Bill Clinton and his handling of the presidency and the economy. A series of questions addressed whether President Clinton and the Republicans in Congress were trying to work with or against each other and whether this was a good or bad thing, whether Clinton or the Republicans would do a better job dealing with the country's problems, whether the changes they were seeking were right or wrong for the country, and which cared more about serving lower income, middle income, and upper income people. Questions were posed regarding how well the United States Congress was doing its job, whether Congress was able to deal with the main issues facing the country, and whether the federal government should be allowed to impose regulations on state and local governments without providing the necessary funding. Respondents were polled on whether they supported or opposed issues such as banning assault weapons, raising the minimum wage, imposing term limits for United States Representatives, and giving loan guarantees to Mexico. Those surveyed were asked whether balancing the federal budget would make the country's problems better or worse, whether it could be done without cutting useful government programs, which programs should be cut, the percentage of federal tax dollars that they felt were wasted, and whether they supported or opposed a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget. Questions regarding the professional major league baseball strike polled respondents on whether they sided with the players or the owners, whether there should be a limit on players' earnings, whether they believed the owners' claims that some teams could be forced to move if players' salaries were not limited, and whether replacement players should be used. Several questions asked whether respondents considered themselves baseball fans, how closely they would follow the season if replacement players were used, whether the league playoffs and World Series should be cancelled if the strike was not settled by the end of the season, whether the strike would hurt baseball's popularity, and whether or not President Clinton and Congress should force a settlement of the strike. A series of questions addressed how often respondents flew on commercial airlines, what factors were important in choosing an airline, and the overall safety of commercial air travel. Opinions were solicited on Newt Gingrich's handling of his job as Speaker of the House of Representatives, whether respondents had heard or read anything about his book publishing contract, and if he did anything illegal or wrong in the book deal. Respondents were also polled on whether their family's financial situation was better, worse, or about the same compared to two years ago and the degree to which President Clinton was responsible, whether they considered themselves religious or spiritual, and how often they prayed or attended religious services. Additional questions asked respondents how closely they followed the O.J. Simpson case, whether he was guilty or not guilty, and whether the news coverage of the trial was good or bad. Background variables include sex, age, ethnicity, household income, marital status, employment status, religion, education, subjective size of community, political orientation, political party, labor union membership, social class, whether the respondent was registered to vote, whether they voted in the 1992 presidential election, and if so, for whom (Democrat Bill Clinton, Republican George H.W. Bush, or Independent candidate Ross Perot).

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