Who Got Enron’s Money Might Not Resonate in Fall Elections
By Daniel Merkle
W A S H I N G T O N, Feb. 26
— The Enron brouhaha hasn't caught fire as a midterm election issue — hardly anyone says it'll be the driving factor in their vote for Congress in November.
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Seventy percent of Americans say they'd be no less likely to support a candidate who received a campaign contribution from Enron. And while a quarter would be less apt to support such a candidate, just three percent say it would be the top issue in their vote.
Sampling, data collection and tabulation
for this poll were done by TNS Intersearch.
One reason is that most people aren't picking partisan sides on Enron. In a Washington Post poll last week, 44 percent said neither party was more responsible for the mess, and 32 percent blamed both equally. (Twelve percent gave the Republicans more blame, three percent the Democrats).
An ABCNEWS/Post poll last month found broad support for a full investigation, support for full disclosure of politicians' contacts with Enron, and concern that the company's collapse signifies wider problems with corporate accounting. But there was no more demand for campaign finance reform, which remained last on a list of public priorities.
Enron
Less likely to vote for candidate who got an Enron contribution.
25%
Partisanship isn't entirely absent: Democrats are somewhat more likely than Republicans to say Enron will affect their vote next fall. Thirty-two percent of Democrats say they'd be less likely to vote to re-elect a representative who accepted money from Enron, versus 21 percent of Republicans. Again, however, just 4 percent of Democrats call it their top voting issue.
The Washington Post poll found that Democrats who assigned blame to one of the parties were much more likely to single out the Republicans; the few Republicans who assigned blame split it between the two parties.
Methodology
This ABCNEWS.com survey was conducted by telephone Feb. 20-24, 2002, among a random national sample of 1,021 adults. The results have a three-point error margin. Sampling, data collection and tabulation by TNS Intersearch of Horsham, Pa.
Archived ABCNEWS polls can be found in the Poll Vault.
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