Corruption poll leaves some politicians squirming
It’s no surprise Americans think political corruption is a problem, but it is news when 88 percent of Americans think it is a serious problem.
An Associated Press-Ipsos poll revealed those findings last month, based on telephone interviews with 1,002 adults from around the country.
A spokesman for U.S. Rep. Dave Camp, R-Midland, said the problem has to do with negative stories seen in the media.
“It is clearly a disturbing trend that so many have a negative view,” said Sage Eastman, Camp’s communications director. “It’s indicative of media stories, there is a clear lack of reporting on the good that goes on.”
The survey asked three questions – how serious of a problem is political corruption, how widespread is the corruption and which elected officials are more ethical.
While 88 percent of those surveyed thought political corruption is a serious problem, 77 percent said anywhere from a moderate number of officials to almost everyone is involved in political corruption.
“These numbers suggest an overall skepticism of those in public office and we find these numbers to be very disappointing,” Eastman said. “We need to set a very high level conduct and set of rules for office holders to combat this problem.”
The ethical elected officials percentages were almost even, with the Democrats edging out the Republicans 36 to 33 percent.
“This is an outcry, saying we need more morals and ethics in politics,” said Richard Schild, College of Democrats president. “These numbers are representative of (President George W.) Bush’s approval ratings. People are starting to see a connection between all the negative stories and the White House.”
The Grand Rapids senior said one way to curb this problem is to make sure those who are caught are held to the highest punishment by law.
“The maximum penalties need to be enforced and examples need to be made to show no one is above the law,” he said.
The poll was based on the interviews with adults from the lower 48 states with the exception of areas that were heavily damaged by hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.
