CBS News Monthly Poll #2, October 1998

This poll, fielded October 7-8, 1998, is part of a continuing 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, the United States Congress, Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, and the state of the United States economy. Those queried were asked whether they intended to participate in the upcoming November 1998 congressional elections, for which party's candidates they intended to vote, and whether the Clinton scandal would influence the likelihood of their voting. Respondents were asked whether they believed that Clinton should resign, be impeached, be censured, or remain in office if it were proven that he either lied under oath about his relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky or encouraged her to lie under oath about their relationship. Respondents were also asked if they either heard about or watched the October 5, 1998, televised House of Representatives debate about impeachment, whether they agreed with the scope of the impeachment inquiry, and whether the end of 1998 as a projected date for the conclusion of the impeachment inquiry was feasible. Respondents queried prior to the October 8, 1998, House of Representatives vote on authorizing the House Judiciary Committee to begin a formal impeachment inquiry of Clinton were asked whether they believed Clinton's actions were serious enough to warrant impeachment, whether the investigation had been about sex or about seeking the truth, and whether Clinton could still be an effective president. Those queried after the October 8, 1998, vote that authorized the start of formal impeachment hearings were asked if they knew how their representative voted. Background information on respondents includes age, race, sex, education, religion, political party, political orientation, marital status, employment status, family income, age of children in household, and television/radio viewing/listening habits.