June 16, 2007

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many people in the United States say their country is not ready to welcome a head of state who has certain characteristics, according to a poll by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University. 58 per cent of respondents think the U.S. will not accept a president who tried cocaine as an adult.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many people in the United States say their country is not ready to welcome a head of state who has certain characteristics, according to a poll by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University. 58 per cent of respondents think the U.S. will not accept a president who tried cocaine as an adult.

In addition, 56 per cent think the nation would reject a president who starts office at the age of 72, 46 per cent believe the American people would object to a head of state who has been married three times, and 45 per cent think the same of a president who is a Mormon. 38 per cent of respondents say the country is not ready for a woman president, and 37 per cent think a person who voted in favour of the war in Iraq would also be rejected.

Conversely, the vast majority—84 per cent—thinks Americans would accept a white president who adopted a black child, 76 per cent feel the same way about a very wealthy president, and 74 per cent would not object to a head of state with little government experience.

The next presidential election is scheduled for November 2008. The main Republican presidential hopefuls so far include former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has been married three times; Arizona senator John McCain, a war veteran who would start his term at 72 if elected; former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who is a Mormon and a very wealthy man; and actor and former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson, with limited experience in government.

The main Democrats running for office are New York senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who voted in favour of the Iraq war in 2002 and is the only declared female candidate; Illinois senator Barack Obama, the son of a white mother and a black father who has admitted to using marijuana and cocaine in his youth; former North Carolina senator John Edwards, who also voted for the war in Iraq and made his personal fortune as a personal injury trial attorney; and New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, who is of Hispanic descent.

In October 2006, when Obama was still pondering a White House run, he admitted before an audience of magazine editors to using cocaine and marijuana as a teenager, saying, "When I was a kid, I inhaled. (...) It was reflective of the struggles and confusions of a teenage boy."

Polling Data

I'd like to ask some questions about the 2008 presidential candidates and whether you think Americans are ready to accept such candidates. So do you think most Americans will accept...

	Yes	No	Other
A white president who adopted a black child	84%	10%	6%
A very wealthy president	76%	16%	8%
A president who has very little government experience	74%	17%	9%
A president who smoked marijuana when very young	69%	23%	8%
A president who currently smokes tobacco	66%	27%	7%
A black president	55%	32%	12%
A president who voted for the Iraq war while in Congress	52%	37%	11%
A woman president	52%	38%	10%
A president who supports abortion rights	49%	36%	15%
A president who has been married three times	46%	44%	10%
A president who starts office at the age of 72	36%	56%	8%
A president who is a Mormon	39%	45%	16%
A president who tried cocaine as an adult	33%	58%	9%

Source: Scripps Howard News Service / Ohio University
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,010 American adults, conducted from May 6 to May 27, 2007. Margin of error is 3 per cent.