Clinton’s job approval rating strong despite sex scandal

“The American people basically are forming their judgment of the President and his job performance based on the extraordinary economic conditions we have and his leadership,” Doug Schoen, a Democratic Party pollster, said on Fox television.

With Clinton just hours away from giving unprecedented grand jury testimony in the seven-month sex-and-perjury probe, the poll numbers indicate that Americans want the Lewinsky matter to go away even though they think the President has lied about it, the Post said.

The Pew Center polls over the course of the probe show that the number ofpeople who believe Clinton had an affair with Lewinsky soared from 43 per cent in mid-February to 50 per cent in mid-August.

But Americans favouring impeachment if it is proven Clinton lied dropped from 50per cent to 29 per cent over the same period, the Post said. Even if it is proved that he asked Lewinsky to lie about the affair – an offense called subornation of perjury – 39 per cent think he should be impeached compared to 48 per cent in mid-February.

Meanwhile, a Fox television network poll released Sunday showed that if Clinton lied about the alleged relationship, 43 per cent of those polled believe no action should be taken, while 24 per cent feel he should resign and 20 per cent want him impeached. The Fox poll gave Clinton a job approval rating of 65 per cent.

“My sense is that the American people basically want this matter put behind them,” Schoen said.