Poll: Voters unsure of Lieberman as Gore VP choice

By Keating Holland/CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- More than half of the American voters in a new poll said have no certain opinion of Vice President Al Gore's running mate, Sen. Joseph Lieberman.

But most said his Jewish faith is not a factor in their estimate of him as a candidate.

In the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll taken Monday night, just 4 percent of respondents said Lieberman's religion would make him a less favorable candidate . (In a 1960 poll, 19 percent said John F. Kennedy's Roman Catholic faith made him a less favorable candidate.)

But some voters may be unwilling to admit a religious bias to a pollster. When respondents were asked whether other people who lived in their community would feel less favorably toward Lieberman because he is a Jew, the number rose to 14 percent -- still a relatively small proportion but enough to make a difference in an extremely close race.

In Monday night's poll, the race had tightened to just two points -- 45 percent for Bush to 43 percent for Gore, with 4 percent to Green Party candidate Ralph Nader and 1 percent for Reform Party candidate Patrick Buchanan.

The poll consisted of interviews with 667 registered voters and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

Seventy-six percent of respondents to the survey said Lieberman as Gore's vice presidential choice would have no effect on their vote, compared to 72 percent in an earlier poll who said GOP presidential nominee Gov. George W. Bush's running mate, former defense secretary Dick Cheney, would have no effect on their vote.

Political analysts have said Gore chose Lieberman in part because of his good character and because the senator was the first Democrat in Congress to rebuke President Clinton for his admitted inappropriate relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

In Monday's poll, fifty percent of respondents said the rebuke made no difference in their opinion of Lieberman, and only 26 percent said it made them feel more favorably toward the senator.

The poll suggests the public views Lieberman much the same way as they saw Cheney when news of his selection by Bush broke on July 24: 53 percent rate the Lieberman choice as excellent or good; 55 percent felt the same way about Bush's choice of Cheney.

A majority think both men are qualified to be president should the worst happen, but only a quarter are excited by the presence of either one on the ticket.

But four times as many voters say that Lieberman makes them more likely to vote Democratic than who say he makes them less likely -- a much higher ratio than Cheney received. Three-quarters say that the selection of Lieberman would have no effect on their vote.

CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP POLL

             Now      Aug. 4-5
Bush         47%      57%
Gore         46         38

CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP POLL

            Now   July 14-16 
Bush            45%      54% 
Gore            43       35  
Nader            4        4 
Buchanan       1        1 

CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP POLL

Favorable       37% 
Unfavorable    10
Unsure            53

CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP POLL

               Now   Aug. 4-5 
 
Favorable      54%     52% 
Unfavorable   38       42 

CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP POLL

Excellent      18% 
Pretty good   35
Only fair       21
Poor               7
Unsure          19

CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP POLL

                  Lieberman  Cheney 
 
Excellent/good      53%        55% 
Only fair/poor      28         34 

CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP POLL

              Lieberman   Cheney 
 
More likely     16%         14% 
Less likely       4             10
No effect         76             72 

CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP POLL

Gore in 1992      33% 
Bentsen in 1988   26 
Lieberman now     16

CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP POLL

Yes         52% 
No          13 
Unsure   35

CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP POLL

               Lieberman   Cheney 
 
Yes             52%         57% 
No              13             8
Unsure       35            25

CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP POLL

Favorably       57% 
Unfavorably    19

CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP POLL

More favorable     7% 
Less favorable     4
No difference      88

CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP POLL

                Lieberman  Kennedy 
                  Now      in 1960 
 
More favorable     7%           5% 
Less favorable     4             19 
No difference      88            73

CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP POLL

More favorable      9% 
Less favorable      14
No difference        67

CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP POLL

Help Gore     26% 
Hurt Gore     13
No effect      52

CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP POLL

More favorable    26% 
Less favorable    21
No difference      50

CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP POLL

        Lieberman   Cheney 
 
Yes       25%         23% 
No        61            65

CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP POLL

         Now    July 25-26

Bush      54%       50%
Gore      37          39
Nader      4            4
Buchanan 1           1

Sources for comparitive polls: Time magazine poll, August, 1988; CNN/Time poll, July 9, 1992; USA Today poll, August 17-18, 1988; Harris Poll, August 19-22, 1988; CNN/USA Today/Gallup polls from August 11, 1996 and August 10-12, 1992