Washington Post 1996 Politics Poll, Wave 2, November 1996

This special topic poll, conducted November 6-10, 1996, is
part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public
opinion on the presidency and on a range of political and social
issues. The focus of this data collection was on the presidential and
congressional elections held November 5, 1996. In the days following
the election, respondents who had voted were asked about their choice
for president, when they decided on their candidate, whether they had
known enough about the candidates to make an informed choice, and
whether factors such as leadership and a candidate's stance on issues
were major or minor reasons for their vote. Respondents were quizzed
on their knowledge of the presidential and vice-presidential
candidates, as well as party platforms, campaign funding, and which
party had the most members in the United States Congress. Views were
sought on the media's treatment of the presidential candidates,
campaign advertisements featuring the issue of Medicare, whether the
presidential campaigns were more negative than in the past, and
whether the news media should report public opinion poll results.
Other topics addressed the condition of the national economy,
abortion, sources of campaign information, types of negative news
media coverage, and how much attention respondents paid to media
coverage of the presidential campaign. Demographic variables include
sex, age, race, ethnicity, education level, marital status, household
income, political party affiliation, political philosophy, labor union
membership, voter registration status, religious preference, and
whether respondents thought of themselves as born-again or evangelical
Christians.