DOI: 10.3886/icpsr03058.v1
title: ABC News Poll, July 2000
title: Version 1

description: This poll, fielded July 20-23, 2000, is part of a
 continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on
 the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues.
 Respondents were asked whether they intended to vote in the November
 7, 2000, presidential election and for whom they would vote if the
 election were held that day, given a choice between Vice President Al
 Gore (Democratic Party), Texas governor George W. Bush (Republican
 Party), conservative commentator Pat Buchanan (Reform Party), and
 consumer advocate Ralph Nader (Green Party). Respondents were asked to
 assess the importance of the following issues in their electoral
 decision-making and to specify which candidate they most trusted to do
 a better job addressing them: holding taxes down, protecting the
 Social Security system, improving education, improving the health care
 system, handling the economy, handling gun control, handling foreign
 affairs, encouraging high moral standards and values, handling the
 death penalty issue, protecting people's privacy on the Internet,
 handling the federal budget surplus, managing the federal budget,
 handling crime, protecting the environment, addressing women's issues,
 and appointing justices to the Supreme Court. Views were sought on
 whether presidential debates should be held, which candidates should
 be invited to participate, and whether respondents were satisfied with
 the presidential candidates. In addition, respondents were asked which
 candidate understood the problems of the American people, was a strong
 leader, would bring needed change to Washington, had the knowledge of
 world affairs it takes to serve effectively as president, could keep
 the economy strong, would say or do anything to get elected, had new
 ideas, said what he really thought, was honest and trustworthy, had an
 appealing personality, and had the right kind of experience to be
 president. Those queried were asked whether a difference existed
 between Gore and Bush on the issues about which the respondent cared
 and their personal qualities. Opinions were elicited on whether the
 top priority for the federal budget surplus should be cutting federal
 taxes, reducing the national debt, strengthening Social Security, or
 increasing spending on domestic programs. Additional questions covered
 abortion and the impact of Bush's naming a running mate who supported
 legalized abortion, Bush's handling of the death penalty while
 governor of Texas, voter intentions regarding the 2000 Congressional
 elections, whether a smaller government with fewer services is
 preferred to a larger government with many services, whether the
 country should continue to move in the direction that Clinton
 established, and whether it mattered who was elected
 president. Background information on respondents includes age, gender,
 political party, political orientation, voter registration and
 participation history, education, religion, labor union membership,
Hispanic origin, household income, and neighborhood characteristics.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: ABC News Poll, July 2000
description: (1) The data are provided as an SPSS portable file.
 (2) This collection has not been processed by ICPSR staff. ICPSR is
 distributing the data and documentation for this collection in
 essentially the same form in which they were received. When
 appropriate, documentation has been converted to Portable Document
 Format (PDF), data files have been converted to non-platform-specific
 formats, and variables have been recoded to ensure respondents'
 anonymity. (3) The codebook is provided by ICPSR as a Portable
 Document Format (PDF) file. The PDF file format was developed by Adobe
 Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF reader software,
 such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy
of the Acrobat Reader is provided on the ICPSR Web site.