How the Voters Feel About Eagleton

THE politicians and editorial writers clamoring for Tom Eagleton's exit from the Democratic ticket do not appear to reflect the views of the public. According to a nationwide telephone sampling of 1,015 eligible voters conducted for TIME last week by Crossley Surveys Inc., the American people are more sympathetic to Eagleton than the headlines suggest. The questions:

What effect did the news that Eagleton had undergone psychiatric treatment for nervous exhaustion have on your choice for President?

No effect: 76.7%

Switched from McGovern to Nixon: 2.6%

Switched from neutral to Nixon: 2.6%

More likely to vote for McGovern: 3.8%

Don't know: 13%

May not vote: 1.3%

In a close election, the 5.2% switch to Nixon could be decisive. But that could be partially canceled out by the 3.8% of the sampling who said they would probably vote for McGovern. It is not likely that they changed their minds because of Eagleton's troubles; rather, they were tending to favor McGovern anyway. Or their reaction may have been capricious--the opposite of the one expected by the interviewer. Still, their switch would shave the McGovern-Eagleton ticket's net loss of voters to 1.4% of the total sample.

Is Senator Eagleton qualified to be Vice President?

Yes: 53.7%

No: 18.5%

No opinion: 27.8%

Not surprisingly, Democrats were more willing to keep Eagleton on the ticket than Republicans were. Of the Democrats polled, 60% believed him to be qualified; only 13.3% thought he was not. In the case of the Republicans, 46.3% considered him qualified; 25.4% did not. Youth was more favorable to Eagleton. In the 18-29 age group, 61.8% believed him to be qualified; 12.6% felt the opposite. In the 30-49 age group, Eagleton was approved by 53.3% and rejected by 20.4%. Probably because of the furor over his medical history, Eagleton was better known by the public than a vice-presidential candidate usually is at this stage in the campaign: 70.5% knew his name.

If you think Eagleton is unqualified, why?

Because he has undergone psychiatric treatment: 50%

Because he did not tell McGovern his medical problems: 33.5%

Other or unstated reasons: 16.5%

If the election were held today, for whom would you vote?

Nixon: 53.8%

McGovern: 30.3%

Others or undecided: 15.9%

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