CBS News Monthly Poll, May 2001

This poll 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 to give their opinions of President George W. Bush and his handling of the presidency, foreign policy, the economy, and the environment, as well as their views on the recent energy shortages and Timothy McVeigh's impending execution. Respondents also specified the single most important problem facing the government, gave their approval ratings of Vice President Dick Cheney and Congress, and gave their views on the national economy and whether it was getting better or worse, or staying the same. Those polled stated whether they supported or opposed the death penalty and if opposed, the reason why, the type of penalty that should be imposed for murder, whether the death penalty is a deterrent to murder, and how many innocent people they believed were executed. Respondents' level of confidence in the Supreme Court was elicited along with their opinions on whether the United States Senate or the President should appoint justices to the Supreme Court, and whether Bush's Supreme Court nominees would be too conservative, not conservative enough, or about right. Respondents were asked whether it was more important to produce energy or protect the environment, which option Bush favored, and which should be a higher priority for the government - increasing production of petroleum, coal, and natural gas, or encouraging conservation. Respondents also stated whether they would be willing to accept higher prices for electricity and gasoline to protect the environment and what effect an increase in gas prices to $3 per gallon would have on them. They were asked whether they approved of building more nuclear power plants to generate electricity and whether they believed that the energy shortages were real or whether the public was just being told there were shortages to justify higher prices. Questions were posed on whether the oil industry had too much influence on the Bush administration's energy policies and what effect this influence would have on the administration's energy policies. Respondents were also queried on Timothy McVeigh's impending execution--whether they favored the death penalty for McVeigh, what sentence they would prefer, who, if anyone, should be allowed to view his execution, and whether they would want to watch the execution. They rated the media's handling of the execution, including the amount of time they devoted to covering it. Respondents were asked to assign blame for the California power shortages, decide whether the state or federal government should take responsibility, and state how likely they believed that power shortages were in their area. Respondents also gave their opinions of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the issue of missing documents in Timothy McVeigh's case. Background information on respondents includes age, race, gender, religion, marital status, number of children, education, income classification, whether they had money invested in the stock market, voter status, and political leanings.