Subject:  Honesty sought in Politicians (Davies)..
Date:     Thu, 2 Dec 1999 092933 -0600 (CST)
From:     "Roy L. Beavers" 
To:       emfguru 
--------------------------------------------------



---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 20:14:11 EST
From: RBLDJRSETH@aol.com
To: rbeavers@llion.org
Subject: Honesty sought in Politicians

Dear Roy,
I just thought that I would forward this on to you and Chris,
Best Wishes,
Laurel


Voters Seek Honesty in Candidates

By WILL LESTER
.c The Associated Press 

WASHINGTON (Nov. 30) - Sherry Epperly says honesty is the most important 
trait for a presidential candidate, ahead of compassion, leadership skills 
and philosophy of government.

She's hardly alone among voters this election year. In an Associated Press 
poll, one-third of Americans said honesty was the most important quality they 
were looking for.

Other findings in the poll, conducted by ICR of Media Pa., suggest 
indifference toward party labels this year.

Almost half of those polled said it wouldn't matter whether a Democrat or 
Republican won the presidential election in 2000. And nearly four of 10 said 
they might consider voting for a third-party candidate, though a majority of 
55 percent said they would not.

''I have two small children,'' Mrs. Epperly, 27, of Fairlawn, Va., said in an 
interview. ''We need morals and we need honesty to raise our children to be 
moral citizens. We need them to know how to behave in life and know that if 
you don't tell the truth there are consequences.''

She said this year's impeachment had influenced her feelings. ''How can you 
tell your children not to lie if the president is not telling the truth?'' 
she asked.

As for party loyalty, Donald Lambert, who is starting a small business in 
Foley, Ala., near Mobile, said, ''The Republicans ... if you have money, they 
take care of you. Democrats look after the ones who are really low-income. 
Neither one tends to look after the middle class.''

Lambert said he would be fairly likely to consider voting for a third-party 
candidate, but he also said he hadn't started paying close attention to the 
campaign.

Indeed, pollsters say the percentage of people who answered that they would 
consider voting for a third-party candidate is not a reliable measure of 
eventual support. None of the current Reform Party candidates has shown 
strength against the Democratic and Republican front-runners.

The telephone poll of 1,023 people was taken Nov. 19-23. It has an error 
margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

In the poll:

- On qualities, 33 percent chose honesty as the top trait, 16 percent said 
that having a candidate ''who cares about people like you'' was most 
important, 15 percent said leadership skills and 13 percent chose having a 
vision. Ten percent said the top trait was a candidate's willingness to stand 
up for beliefs, and 8 percent said it was most important that someone share 
the voter's view of government.

- Asked which party would leave them better off, 48 percent said it wouldn't 
make much difference if a Republican or a Democrat won the presidential 
election. Twenty-four percent said a Democrat, 21 percent a Republican. Asked 
which party they favored for Congress, 39 percent said Democratic, 33 percent 
Republican. Eleven percent said they wouldn't vote for either party in House 
and Senate races.

-On issues, education was chosen as the most important by one of every four 
respondents, followed by Social Security and Medicare, the economy, the 
nation's moral values and health care - all grouped fairly closely in second 
place and chosen by about one out of six - followed by taxes, chosen by about 
one out of 12.

Young adults between 18 and 34 were most likely to list education as the top 
issue, while older and lower-income Americans were more likely to point to 
Social Security and Medicare.

The low standing of taxes as an issue comes at a time when the public has 
generally positive feelings about the economy. Four out of 10 said they were 
better off than four years ago and about the same number said their economic 
standing was the same.

-On the presidential race, Texas Gov. George W. Bush led Arizona Sen. John 
McCain by a 5-1 margin among those inclined to vote Republican (60 percent to 
12 percent). Vice President Al Gore led former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley, 
43 percent to 32 percent among those inclined to vote Democratic.

While Bradley's support has generally ranged from the high 20s to low 30s in 
recent polls, Gore's support has ranged from the 40s to 60s, depending on the 
poll.

Nancy Coleman, a 40-year-old teacher from Santa Clara, Calif., said she tends 
to support Democrats but hasn't gotten excited about either candidate. She 
doesn't know enough about Bradley, though he seems conservative to her, and 
she's not convinced that Gore is her candidate.

''Gore seems pro-technology, which would be helpful in Silicon Valley,'' she 
said. ''But I don't get a feel for him in any other way. He's kind of a 
nonentity.''

 AP-NY-11-30-99 1538EDT

Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news 
report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed 
without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.  All active 
hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL. 



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