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MORE ON THIS STORY RELATED STORIES • Poll: Confidence in Business Always Low

Just 49 percent approve of his work on the issue — far below his overall job approval of 72 percent, fueled by the anti-terrorism campaign.

Eighty-eight percent say they distrust corporate executives, and nearly as many distrust corporate financial accounting.

Indeed, majorities express the lowest possible levels of trust in these — "very little," or even none.

Such views, however, are based more on perception than on personal observation.

Among workers, more than six in 10 do trust the honesty of their own employers' executives or leaders, and more than seven in 10 trust their own companies' financial accounting — even as they express distrust in corporations more generally.

Who Do You Trust?
	TRUST	DISTRUST
Corporate executives	11%	88
Your own employer's executives	63	35
Corporate financial reports	16	82
Your own employer's financial reports	73	25

Will Scandals Skew Voting?

It remains to be seen, moreover, if the recent corporate scandals carry much weight as a voting issue in November's mid-term elections.

They rank in the mid-level of issues of concern in the elections, and the Democratic Party holds a 10-point lead over the Republicans in trust to handle the problem. But between Bush or the Democrats, trust divides more evenly — 44 percent prefer the Democrats' approach, 42 percent Bush's.

Trust More to Handle Corporate Fraud?
Republicans	37%
Democrats	47
Bush	42
Democrats	44

Holding even with the Democrats is better than might be expected for Bush, since he and his party both are seen as favoring corporate interests over the interests of average Americans. The Democrats are more apt to be seen as caring more about workers.

Indeed, the scandal may be a political blessing in disguise for Bush, to the extent that it enables him to distance himself from major corporations — a connection that's engendered some public skepticism.

In the spring of last year, 60 percent of Americans said Bush cares more about protecting large corporations than about protecting ordinary working people; today that's eased to 50 percent — still a negative perception, but less of one. (The halo of his broader approval may also be helping.)

The Republicans in Congress fare worse, with 60 percent of Americans believing they favor large companies over working people. The Democrats in Congress are seen as favoring workers over corporations, by 49 percent to 37 percent.

Favor the Interests of …
	LARGE CORPORATIONS	WORKING PEOPLE
Bush	50%	37
Republicans in Congress	60	27
Democrats in Congress	37	49

Bush Might Alienate Base

Bush's rating for dealing with the issue — 49 percent approve, 43 percent disapprove — clearly is lacking.

Most of those surveyed thought Bush's corporate crime proposals weren't tough enough. (ABCNEWS.com)

Sixty-eight percent of Republicans approve, but this dives to 44 percent of independents and 36 percent of Democrats. Similarly, six in 10 independents and Democrats alike say he's not being tough enough on corporate crime.

A challenge is for Bush to address these concerns without alienating his base by being seen as promoting undue government bureaucracy. Support for a task force to oversee corporate investigations, for instance, is substantially less popular among conservative Republicans (61 percent support) than among liberal Democrats (77 percent support).

A related issue — questions about Bush's own dealings while on the board of an oil company called Harken Energy — doesn't appear to have damaged his own reputation for probity. Seventy-one percent in this poll describe him as "honest and trustworthy," the most in ABC/Post polls. (Again, his post-Sept. 11 popularity may be helping.)

Corporate Fraud a Moral Failure?

And Bush does look to have struck a chord with his suggestion that corporate fraud represents a broader failure of morals. Three-quarters of Americans say a "lack of morals in society" is a "major factor" in the scandals, as many as cite a lack of oversight by boards of directors at the companies involved.

One factor gets more mentions: Simple greed, with 88 percent saying greed among corporate executives is a major factor in the scandals. Somewhat lower on the list are a lack of oversight by outside accountants, cited by 66 percent; and a lack of oversight by government regulators and prosecutors, cited by 56 percent.

'Major Factor' in Corporate Scandals
Greed among executives	88%
Lack of morals in society	74
Lack of oversight by corporate boards	74
Lack of oversight by outside accountants	66
Lack of oversight by regulators, prosecutors	56

Bush's suggestion that a broader moral failure is partly the cause resonates best in one of his core support groups — evangelical white Protestants, among whom 85 percent call it a "major factor" in the scandals.

But, notably, this view has wide appeal, taking in more than seven in 10 Democrats, independents and Republicans alike, and crossing ideologies from 73 percent of liberal Democrats to 82 percent of conservative Republicans.

How Effective Will Punishment Be?

With greed the top perceived factor, support for penalties is vast: Ninety-one percent of Americans favor higher fines and longer prison terms for corporate executives who conceal their companies' true financial condition; a remarkable 73 percent support such measures "strongly."

Support is less vast, and decidedly less strong, when it comes to a second measure urged by Bush — creation of a federal task force to coordinate investigations of possible corporate crimes. Sixty-nine percent support it, 41 percent "strongly."

While both these Bush-backed steps are popular, there's some doubt about how well they'll work. While 52 percent think the measures he's proposed will help, far fewer — 21 percent — think they'll do "a great deal" to reduce corporate crimes.

Indeed, while support for a focus on new legislation has risen, it's still overshadowed by interest in better enforcement of existing laws. Thirty-seven percent think new laws are needed, up from 29 percent last month; but 48 percent say better enforcement is the key.

What Is Needed?
	JULY	JUNE
New laws	37%	29
Better enforcement	48	53
Neither	9	9
Both equally	5	4

Do You Trust Your Colleagues?

Workers in smaller companies, with fewer than 100 employees, are more apt to trust their companies' executives or leaders — 74 percent do so, compared to 53 percent of workers in larger firms. But there's no such difference in trust of employers' financial accounts; more than seven in 10 express trust regardless of the size of the company they work for.

Such trust is hardly absolute: Overall, 46 percent of workers express a "great deal" of trust in their companies' accounts, and 39 percent express a "great deal" of trust in their company leaders. By contrast, as noted above, majorities of all Americans express the most minimal trust — little or none — in corporate executives, and financial accounts, in general.

Trust
	Great deal	Good amount	Just some	Little/none
Corporate executives	2	9	35	53
Own company's executives	39	24	23	12
Corporate accounting	4	12	31	52
Own company's accounting	46	26	13	12

Methodology

This ABCNews/Washington Post poll was conducted by telephone July 11-15, among a random national sample of 1,512 adults. The results have a 2.5-point error margin. Fieldwork was conducted by TNS Intersearch of Horsham, Pa.

Previous ABCNEWS polls can be found in our PollVault.