WH2000: The Candidates

ABC News/Washington Post Poll. July 20-23, 2000. N=1,228 adults nationwide. MoE +/- 3.

"Which presidential candidate, Gore or Bush, do you trust to do a better job on . . . holding taxes down / protecting the Social Security system / improving education and the schools / improving the health care system / handling the national economy / handling the issue of gun control / handling foreign affairs / encouraging high moral standards and values / handling the death penalty issue / protecting people’s privacy on the Internet / handling the federal budget surplus / managing the federal budget / handling crime / protecting the environment / handling the abortion issue / addressing women’s issues / appointing justices to the Supreme Court?"

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White House 2000: Comparing the Candidates
All data are from nationwide surveys of Americans 18 & older.
More on Bush
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Polls listed chronologically.

Newsweek Poll conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates. Latest: Oct. 18-20, 2000. N=1,007 registered voters nationwide. MoE ą 3.
					.
*"Next, please tell me whether or not you think each of the following phrases describes Al Gore* / George W. Bush . . . ."**
		Al Gore		George W. Bush
		Yes	No	Yes	No
		%	%	%	%
	"Is intelligent and well informed"
	10/18-20	82	13	69	25
	10/12-13	78	18	70	25
	10/4-6	81	15	70	24
	9/27-29	78	16	70	22
	9/20-22	76	16	72	19
	9/7-8	77	13	68	25
	8/24-25	81	13	72	22
	8/17-18	82	13	71	23
	8/10-11	80	13	75	17
	8/3-4			75	19
	7/27-28	77	17	73	19
					.
	"Is personally likeable"
	10/18-20	67	26	71	23
	10/12-13	67	26	73	23
	10/4-6	67	27	69	24
	9/27-29	70	23	67	25
	9/20-22	69	21	67	22
	9/7-8	68	22	67	24
	8/24-25	69	23	69	23
	8/17-18	70	23	68	25
	8/10-11	61	29	69	22
					.
	"Has strong leadership qualities"
	10/18-20	65	29	65	29
	10/12-13	60	33	66	28
	10/4-6	62	30	64	28
	9/27-29	61	31	64	27
	9/20-22	60	31	63	26
	9/7-8	60	28	65	26
	8/24-25	58	32	68	23
	8/17-18	60	30	62	27
	8/10-11	53	37	71	20
	8/3-4			72	21
	7/27-28	52	37	67	21
					.
	"Cares about people like you"
	10/18-20	60	31	53	39
	10/12-13	57	34	53	38
	10/4-6	58	33	48	42
	9/27-29	59	33	51	39
	9/20-22	54	34	51	34
	9/7-8	60	27	47	40
	8/24-25	58	30	51	39
	8/17-18	60	30	47	41
	8/10-11	53	35	55	31
	8/3-4			59	32
	7/27-28	55	33	55	34
					.
	"Is honest and ethical"
	10/18-20	52	37	63	27
	10/12-13	54	38	63	27
	10/4-6	52	37	59	27
	9/27-29	54	34	57	31
	9/20-22	54	33	58	28
	9/7-8	61	25	56	29
	8/24-25	59	29	60	26
	8/17-18	64	25	58	29
	8/10-11	52	38	66	22
	8/3-4			71	18
	7/27-28	56	33	64	24
					.
	"Shares your views on most major political issues"
	10/18-20	50	45	50	46
	10/12-13	49	44	51	42
	10/4-6	50	43	48	45
	9/27-29	50	43	49	44
	9/20-22	49	40	50	39
	9/7-8	52	37	46	42
	8/24-25	52	40	48	44
	8/17-18	54	38	47	43
	8/10-11	45	48	51	39
	8/3-4			54	37
	7/27-28	43	46	53	36
					.
	"Says what he believes, not just what people want to hear"
	10/18-20	49	41	58	33
	10/12-13	46	44	58	34
	10/4-6	48	42	55	35
	9/27-29	48	42	51	38
	9/20-22	46	43	53	33
	9/7-8	48	37	50	35
	8/24-25	47	41	51	37
	8/17-18	54	34	49	37
	8/10-11	41	46	58	30

						.
"Regardless of which presidential candidate you now support, please tell me whether you think Al Gore or George W. Bush would do a better job of handling each of the following issues as president. [See below.] Do you think Gore or Bush would do a better job of handling this issue as president?"
		Gore	Bush	Same (vol.)	Neither (vol.)	Not Sure
		%	%	%	%	%
	"Foreign policy"
	10/18-20	50	36	5	2	7
	10/12-13	49	40	4	2	5
	10/4-6	48	37	4	2	9
	8/17-18	43	41	5	2	9
						.
	"Helping seniors pay for prescription drugs"
	10/18-20	50	33	4	4	9
	10/12-13	48	33	5	5	9
	10/4-6	51	31	5	3	10
	9/27-29	50	33	4	3	10
	9/20-22	48	33	5	3	11
	8/3-4	45	40	4	3	8
						.
	"Health care"
	10/18-20	51	35	4	3	7
	10/12-13	48	37	4	4	7
	10/4-6	51	34	5	2	8
	9/27-29	49	34	5	3	9
	9/20-22	49	35	6	2	8
	8/3-4	44	42	3	3	8
						.
	"The economy and jobs"
	10/18-20	50	37	5	2	6
	10/12-13	48	37	6	3	6
	10/4-6	49	35	5	3	8
	9/27-29	48	39	4	2	7
	9/20-22	48	38	5	1	8
	8/3-4	42	43	5	2	8
						.
	"Social Security"
	10/18-20	49	39	3	2	7
	10/12-13	47	39	5	3	6
	10/4-6	47	36	4	4	9
	9/27-29	47	39	3	3	8
	9/20-22	46	36	4	3	11
	8/3-4	40	45	4	2	9
						.
	"Education and vouchers"
	10/18-20	43	43	6	1	7
	10/12-13	44	42	3	3	8
	10/4-6	44	40	6	2	8
	9/27-29	44	42	5	2	7
	9/20-22	47	36	5	2	10
	8/3-4	39	48	3	2	8
						.
	"Abortion"
	10/18-20	45	35	3	4	13
	10/12-13	43	36	4	5	12
	10/4-6	45	34	3	4	14
	8/17-18	48	30	5	6	11
						.
	"Taxes"
	10/18-20	45	42	4	3	6
	10/12-13	43	44	4	3	6
	10/4-6	44	41	3	4	8
	9/27-29	41	44	3	3	9
	9/20-22	40	43	5	3	9
	8/3-4	36	50	2	3	9
						.
	"Upholding moral values"
	10/18-20	39	45	9	2	5
	10/12-13	39	44	9	4	5
	10/4-6	39	43	8	3	7
	8/30-31	44	37	8	4	7
						.
	"National defense"
	10/18-20	40	49	3	2	6
	10/12-13	38	50	5	2	5
	10/4-6	39	49	3	1	8
	9/27-29	32	54	3	2	9
	9/20-22	35	49	4	2	10
	8/3-4	30	55	2	2	11
						.
	"Rising oil prices"
	10/18-20	37	38	3	8	14
	10/12-13	37	41	5	7	10
	10/4-6	37	41	3	5	14
	9/27-29	35	44	4	6	11
						.
"Regardless of which presidential candidate you support, do you think Al Gore or George W. Bush would do a better job of dealing with an international crisis situation, like the one now in Israel and last week's terrorist bombing on a U.S. warship in Yemen?"
		%
	Gore	47
	Bush	39
	Same (vol.)	5
	Neither (vol.)	2
	Don't know	7

*Gallup/CNN/USA Today* Tracking Poll**. Sept. 22-24, 2000. N=718 likely voters nationwide. MoE +/- 4.
				.
"Regardless of which presidential candidate you support, please tell me if you think Al Gore or George W. Bush would better handle the rising price of gasoline and fuel oil."
		%
	Bush	42
	Gore	39	See also: Fuel Prices
	Same (vol.)	3	See also: Fuel Prices
	No opinion	16

Fox News/Opinion Dynamics Poll. Aug. 9-10, 2000. N=900 registered voters nationwide. MoE +/- 3.
						.
"Which candidate do you think would do a better job on the following issues [see below]: George W. Bush or Al Gore?"
		Bush	Gore	Equal (vol.)	Neither (vol.)	Not Sure
		%	%	%	%	%
	Military defense	56	24	4	3	13
	Taxes	45	34	4	4	13
	Family values	43	35	12	2	8
	Education	40	41	7	2	10
	Economy	38	41	6	3	12
	Social Security	37	40	6	3	14
	Health care	33	46	5	3	13

*Gallup/CNN/USA Today* Poll**. Aug. 4-5, 2000. N=1,051 adults nationwide. MoE +/- 3.
							.
"Next, regardless of which presidential candidate you support, please tell me if you think Al Gore or George W. Bush would better handle each of the following issues. . . ."
							.

NBC News Poll conducted by the polling organizations of Peter Hart (D) and Robert Teeter (R). August 3, 2000. N=511 registered voters nationwide. MoE +/- 4.4.
						.
"Now I'd like you to compare Al Gore and George W. Bush on a few qualities that people might look for in a president. For each one, please tell me whether you think that Al Gore or George W. Bush would be better on that item. If you think that both would be equally good or that neither would be good on a particular item, just say so. . . ."
		Gore	Bush	Both Equal	Neither	Depends (vol.)	Not Sure
		%	%	%	%	%	%
	"Being knowledgeable and experienced enough to handle the presidency"
		41	37	16	4	-	2
						.
	"Being compassionate enough to understand average people"
		34	38	16	8	-	4
						.
	"Having the best ideas for the future"
		32	45	11	6	1	5

*NBC News/Wall Street Journal* Poll** conducted by the polling organizations of Peter Hart (D) and Robert Teeter (R). July 27-28, 2000. N=500 registered voters nationwide.
						.
"Now I'd like you to compare Al Gore and George W. Bush on a few qualities that people might look for in a president. For each one, please tell me whether you think that Al Gore or George W. Bush would be better on that item. If you think that both would be equally good or that neither would be good on a particular item, just say so. . . ."
		Gore	Bush	Both Equal	Neither	Depends (vol.)	Not Sure
		%	%	%	%	%	%
	"Being knowledgeable enough to deal with foreign policy"
		38	30	17	7	1	7
						.
	"Being easygoing and likeable"
		30	43	19	5	-	3
						.
	"Being trustworthy enough to do the right thing when making decisions"
		29	38	17	12	1	3
						.
	"Having the strong leadership qualities needed to be president"
		26	46	16	8	1	3

Fox News/Opinion Dynamics Poll. July 12-13, 2000. N=900 registered voters nationwide. MoE +/- 3.
						.
"Of the two leading presidential candidates, Al Gore and George W. Bush, which would you rather have [see below]?"
		Bush	Gore	Neither/ Equal (vol.)	Not Sure
		%	%	%	%
	"Nominate the next Supreme Court justice"
		45	38	6	11
						.
	"In charge of protecting our nuclear secrets"
		48	34	11	7
						.
	"Fighting next to you in your foxhole if you had to defend your life"
		44	33	15	8
						.
	"As a business partner"
		50	32