Candidates win, media loses, in new poll

A poll released Thursday indicates that voters are satisfied with this year's presidential campaign, believing there was less mudslinging, better discussion of the issues and more useful debates than four years ago.

Despite media coverage--along with commentary by the nation's comedians--that often zeroed in on the candidates' defects, voters expressed stronger satisfaction with their choice than at any time since the poll was first conducted in 1988.

In fact, the big loser in the survey was the media, which received high marks from less than one-third of those surveyed. Only one-third of respondents granted a grade of "A" or "B" to pollsters.

The poll of 1,112 voters was conducted by the Pew Research Center for The People & The Press last Friday through Sunday. Center Director Andrew Kohut cautioned that perceptions could change as the stalemate in Florida over the final election result continues, but he noted that voters were questioned at a time they were aware the election was unresolved.

Sixty-eight percent of voters were content with the two candidates, compared with 51 percent in 1996 and 61 percent in 1992. Four in five Republicans were happy with the choice between GOP presidential nominee George W. Bush and Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore, compared with two-thirds of Democrats who were satisfied with the selection.

Despite displeasure with the media, voters felt well informed, with 83 percent saying that they had learned enough to make an informed choice.

Slightly fewer than half of Republicans said the media was fair to both candidates, while two-thirds of Democrats found the reporting balanced. For the first time, more respondents said they got their news from cable television than from the major networks, while those listing newspapers as a primary source of information dropped from 60 percent in 1996 to 39 percent.

Fifty-two percent said the networks' mistake of initially calling Florida for Gore may have affected how people voted in other parts of the country, a view supported by 58 percent of those in the Western states.