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March 27, 2007
Only about 1 in 5 Say Federal Prosecutors were Fired for Proper Reasons
More than Half Believe President Bush Is Trying to Cover Up the Firings
By Mark Schulman and Tara Regan
In the wake of investigations surrounding the firing of eight federal prosecutors, about half (48%) of Americans believe that they were fired because they refused to be pressured by politics. Only 22% say they were fired for "proper reasons." Almost one-in-three (28%) were not sure, according to the latest Time Poll conducted March 23-26, 2007.
More than half (55%) of Americans say that President Bush's refusal to allow members of his administration to testify under oath about the firings is because Bush is trying to "cover up" the reasons for the firings. Only 33% agree with the President's explanation that he is preserving Constitution's separation of powers between Congress and the Presidency.
Partisan Divide: Republicans Defend Firings
A large majority of Democrats (67% political - 12% proper) and half of Independents (50% - 21%) say the firings were political. By contrast, many Republicans (40% vs. 20%) say that the federal prosecutors were fired for proper reasons.
- Most Democrats (84% - 9%) and a majority of Independents (52% - 36%) believe that President Bush is trying to cover-up the firings by not allowing members of his Administration to testify under oath.
- Most Republicans (71% - 19%) believe the President's refusal is based on Constitutional separation of powers.
Americans Divided on Whether Gonzales Should Resign
Americans are divided on whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should resign as a result of the way he's handled the firings. At this point:
- Almost 2-in-5 (39%) think that Gonzales should resign. A similar amount (36%), think he should not resign. About one-in-four (25%) are not sure.
Gonzales' approval rating now stands at 26% approve with 40% of Americans disapproving of the job he is doing as Attorney General. About one-third (34%) said they were not sure.
- Gonzales' approval rating is lower than that of Vice President Dick Cheney (32% approve vs. 56% disapprove) and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (55% approve vs. 32% disapprove).
- President Bush's approval rating remains mired at 33% approve - 60% disapprove.
Iraq: Less than 3 in 10 Say U.S. Should Stay As Long As Needed
Only 3-in-10 (28%) Americans agree with President Bush that the U.S. should keep troops in Iraq for as long as needed until the Iraqi people can handle the situation themselves. Most other Americans favor setting deadlines for withdrawal:
- A little more than one-third (36%) think that the U.S. should set sliding deadlines for withdrawing most troops by August 31, 2008 with the withdrawal schedule depending on the Iraqi government's progress in training its forces and bringing stability to Iraq,
- About one-third (32%) think that the U.S. should withdraw all troops from Iraq in the next 12 months whatever happens in Iraq.
A majority of Americans (55%) say it was "wrong" for the United States to go to war with Iraq, with only 38% saying it was right, largely unchanged from last fall.
The recent U.S. troop surge has had no effect in building American confidence in the Iraqi government.
- About half of Americans (51%) do not think the new Iraqi government will be able to build a stable and reasonably democratic society - up three points from June 2006 (48%). Only 37% are optimistic that the new Iraqi government will be able to build a stable democratic society.
- Republicans are more optimistic about the future of Iraq than Democrats (55% vs. 26%).
Methodology
This Time Magazine poll was conducted by telephone between March 23-26, 2007 among a national random sample of 1,264 adults age 18 and older throughout America. The data have been weighted to reflect the demographic composition of adult Americans.
The margin of error for the entire sample is approximately +/- 3 percentage points. The margin of error is higher for subgroups. Surveys are subject to other error sources as well, including sampling coverage error, recording error, and respondent error.
The Poll's partisan breakdown is as follows:
34% Democrat
27% Republican
28% Independent
Schulman, Ronca, & Bucuvalas (SRBI) Public Affairs designed the survey and conducted all interviewing. The full Time questionnaire and trend data may be found in the related link below.
Related Link
