Hot Topics
Survey Reports
November 16, 2000
Campaign 2000 Highly Rated
Questionnaire
PEW RESEARCH CENTER FOR THE PEOPLE & THE PRESS
NOVEMBER 2000 RE-INTERVIEW SURVEY
-- FINAL TOPLINE --
November 10-12, 2000
N = 1,113 Voters
MY FIRST QUESTION IS...
Q.1 A lot of people have been telling us they didn't get a chance to vote in the
election on November 7. How about you... did things come up that kept you from
voting, or did you happen to vote?
Yes, voted CONTINUE WITH INTERVIEW
No, did not vote THANK RESPONDENT AND END
Don't remember THANK RESPONDENT AND END
Refused THANK RESPONDENT AND END
ASK ALL EXCEPT THOSE WHO ANSWERED '9' DON'T KNOW/CAN'T REMEMBER IN Q.3:
Q.16 When did you make up your mind definitely to vote for (INSERT
CHOICE FROM Q.3; IF 'OTHER' IN Q.3 INSERT 'THE CANDIDATE OF YOUR CHOICE')?
(Open-end) (INTERVIEWER: GET TIME AS SPECIFICALLY AS POSSIBLE)
Nov Nov Nov
Total Gore Bush 1996 1992 1988
5 5 4 On Election Day 6 9 6
2 1 2 On Monday (day before the election) 3 4 3
2 2 3 Over the last week-end 2 4 2
5 6 5 In the last week 6 8 4
20 19 23 Debate period (NET) 3 13 20
17 16 20 During or just after the Presidential debates
3 3 3 After the vice presidential debate
9 9 10 In September, after the Conventions 12 6 16
7 7 9 Convention period (NET) 8 12 15
3 6 1 During or after the Democratic Convention
4 1 8 During or after the Republican Convention
This year, before the summer, during
21 23 23 the primaries 13 18 19
20 25 18 Before 2000 39 12 9
-- -- -- Other * 8 --
3 3 3 Don't know/Can't remember 2 1 2
6 0 0 Don't remember who voted for 6 5 4
100 100 100 100 100 100
ASK ALL:
Q.17 Now that the campaign is over, how satisfied were you with the choice of presidential
candidates? Would you say that you were very satisfied, fairly satisfied, not very
satisfied, or not at all satisfied?
Nov 1996 Nov 1992 Nov 1988
24 Very satisfied 18 24 26
44 Fairly satisfied 33 37 36
18 Not very satisfied 24 21 20
9 Not at all satisfied 22 16 17
5 Don't know/Refused 3 2 1
100 100 100 100
Q.18 During this campaign, did you feel you learned enough about the candidates and the
issues to make an informed choice between Gore, Bush, Nader and Buchanan, or did you
find it difficult to choose because you felt you did not learn enough from the campaign?
Nov 1996 Nov 1992 Nov 1988
83 Learned enough to make an informed choice 75 77 59
15 Did not learn enough from the campaign 23 20 39
2 Don't know/Refused 2 3 2
100 100 100 100
Q.19 How helpful were the presidential debates to you in deciding which candidate to
vote for? Would you say they were very helpful, somewhat helpful, not too helpful,
or not at all helpful?
Nov 1996 Nov 1992 Nov 1988
25 Very helpful 13 31 13
37 Somewhat helpful 28 39 35
14 Not too helpful 23 11 24
16 Not at all helpful 25 13 25
7 Did not watch the debates (VOL.) 10 5 3
1 Don't know/Refused 1 1 *
100 100 100 100
Q.20 Students are often given the grades A, B, C, D, or Fail to describe the quality of
their work. Looking back over the campaign, what grade would you give to each of the
following groups for the way they conducted themselves in the campaign?
First... (READ AND ROTATE)
-A- -B- -C- -D- -F- -DK-
a. The press 6 22 31 18 20 3=100
November 1996 6 22 33 19 18 2=100
November 1992 11 25 29 16 15 4=100
November 1988 8 22 33 19 16 2=100
b. The pollsters 7 22 28 15 14 14=100
November 1996 11 23 29 11 10 16=100
November 1992 15 31 27 9 6 12=100
November 1988 13 29 29 12 11 6=100
c. The talk show hosts 9 22 24 11 10 24=100
November 1996 6 15 25 13 16 25=100
November 1992 10 29 25 8 9 19=100
d. The campaign consultants 5 26 29 8 5 27=100
November 1996 4 18 33 11 8 26=100
November 1992 7 26 31 7 4 25=100
November 1988 5 20 37 14 8 16=100
e. The Republican Party 10 35 31 10 9 5=100
November 1996 4 23 39 18 13 3=100
November 1992 4 25 34 18 15 4=100
November 1988 11 34 31 12 10 2=100
f. The Democratic Party 14 33 30 11 8 4=100
November 1996 12 36 29 11 9 3=100
November 1992 18 40 26 6 6 4=100
November 1988 7 26 45 13 7 2=100
g. Al Gore 17 36 25 10 10 2=100
Clinton: November 1996 20 37 22 8 11 2=100
Clinton: November 1992 26 38 21 7 5 3=100
Dukakis: November 1988 9 29 40 13 7 1=100
h. George W. Bush 15 37 27 10 9 2=100
Dole: November 1996 7 26 34 20 12 1=100
Bush: November 1992 4 26 33 18 16 3=100
Bush: November 1988 15 34 26 13 11 1=100
i. Ralph Nader 7 20 26 14 11 22=100
Perot: November 1996 8 18 30 20 17 7=100
Perot: November 1992 17 30 27 13 10 3=100
j. Pat Buchanan 4 12 25 17 15 27=100
k. The voters 22 31 25 7 4 11=100
November 1996 12 27 29 13 10 9=100
November 1992 32 29 20 5 5 9=100
November 1988 18 31 28 10 7 6=100
NO Q. 21
Thinking about the campaign again...
Q.22 How helpful were the candidates' commercials to you in deciding which candidate to
vote for? Would you say they were very helpful, somewhat helpful, not too helpful, or
not at all helpful?
Nov 1996 Nov 1992
6 Very helpful 4 10
23 Somewhat helpful 21 28
24 Not too helpful 27 28
42 Not at all helpful 46 31
5 Don't know/Refused 2 3
100 100 100
Q.23 Compared to past presidential elections, would you say there was more discussion
of issues in this campaign or less discussion of issues?
Nov 1996 Nov 1992
46 More 25 59
36 Less 65 34
13 Same (VOL.) 6 4
5 Don't know/Refused 4 3
100 100 100
Q.24 Compared to past presidential elections, would you say there was MORE mudslinging
or negative campaigning in this campaign or LESS mudslinging or negative campaigning
in this campaign?
Nov 1996 Nov 1992
34 More 49 68
46 Less 36 16
16 Same (VOL.) 12 14
4 Don't know/Refused 3 2
100 100 100
Q.25 How did you get most of your news about the presidential election campaign?
From television, from newspapers, from radio, from magazines or from the Internet?
(ACCEPT TWO ANSWERS. IF ONLY ONE RESPONSE IS GIVEN, PROBE FOR ONE ADDITIONAL RESPONSE)
IF RESPONDENT ANSWERED '1' TELEVISION IN Q.25 ASK:
Q.25a Did you get most of your news about the presidential campaign from network
TV news, from local TV news, or from cable news networks such as CNN or MSNBC?
(ACCEPT TWO ANSWERS; DO NOT PROBE)
Nov 1996 Nov 1992
70 Television 72 82
22 Network 36 55
21 Local 23 29
36 Cable 21 29
1 Other (DON'T READ) 4 2
1 Don't know 2 1
39 Newspapers 60 57
15 Radio 19 12
4 Magazines 11 9
11 Internet 3 --
1 Other 4 6
* Don't know/Refused 1 1
ASK ALL EXCEPT THOSE WHO ANSWERED '5' INTERNET IN Q.25
Q.25b Did you happen to get any news or information about the 2000 elections from
the Internet, or not?
Nov 1996
19 Yes 7
70 No 90
* Don't know/Refused *
89 97
ASK ALL:
Q.26 How much influence do you think news organizations had on the outcome of this
year's presidential election... too much, too little or about the right amount?
Nov 1996 Nov 1992
53 Too much 47 46
4 Too little 4 2
39 About the right amount 46 49
4 Don't know/Refused 3 3
100 100 100
ROTATE Q.27 AND Q.28
Q.27 Would you say the press has been fair or unfair in the way it has covered Al Gore's
election campaign?
---- Clinton ---
Nov 1996 Nov 1992
71 Fair 73 77
24 Unfair 24 19
25 Don't know/Refused 3 4
100 100 100
Q.28 Would you say the press has been fair or unfair in the way it has covered George
W. Bush's election campaign?
-- Dole -- -- Bush --
Nov 1996 Nov 1992
65 Fair 65 61
30 Unfair 32 35
5 Don't know/Refused 3 4
100 100 100
NO Q. 30
Now thinking about election night...
Q.36 Did you happen to follow election returns on Tuesday night, or not?
IF "1" YES IN Q.36, ASK:
Q.37 How late did you follow the coverage on election night? (open end)
88 Yes
14 Before 11 PM EST
31 11 PM to before 1 AM EST
25 1 AM to before 3 AM EST
18 3 AM EST and after
0 Don't know/Refused
12 No
0 Don't know/Refused
100
ASK ALL:
Q.38 In your opinion, what should news organizations do on election night: Wait to
announce the winner in a state until nearly all the votes are counted, OR should
they PREDICT a winner when they feel confident about the outcome of the election
based on early returns?
87 Wait to announce the winner until nearly all votes are counted
11 Predict a winner when they feel confident about the outcome
2 Don't know/Refused
100
Q.39 What was your reaction when you first learned that news organizations had made a
mistake early Wednesday morning in declaring George W. Bush the winner of the
presidential election? Were you angry with the news organizations, just disappointed
in them, or didn't it bother you that much?
21 Angry
48 Just disappointed
27 Didn't bother
2 Did not know this (VOL.)
2 Don't know/Refused (VOL.)
100
Q.40 Early on election night, news organizations mistakenly declared Al Gore the winner
in Florida. Do you think this mistake had any effect on how people in other parts of the
country voted, OR don't you think it had any impact?
52 Had an effect
41 No impact
7 Don't know/Refused
100
Q.41 Why do you think news organizations sometimes make projections too quickly: Is it
mostly because they want to be FIRST to call the winner, OR mostly because they feel it
is important for their audience to know the outcome as soon as possible?
81 Want to be first
13 Important for voters to know
2 Both (VOL.)
4 Don't know/Refused
100
Next >>
Table of Contents
- Questionnaire