美国国家公共电台 NPR Poll: Americans Split on House Impeachment Inquiry

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Our latest NPR/PBS/Marist poll finds that Americans are paying attention as we learn more about President Trump¹'s call with his Ukrainian counterpart. But they're divided on the question of whether or not the impeachment² inquiry³ is warranted. Domenico Montanaro is NPR's senior political editor and joins us now.

Hi, Domenico.

DOMENICO MONTANARO, BYLINE⁴: Hey there, Ari.

SHAPIRO: Let's start with what the numbers tell us about whether Americans approve of House Democrats⁵' impeachment inquiry. What's the result?

MONTANARO: Well, Americans are split overall, 49-46, on whether they approve of Democrats starting this impeachment inquiry. We should be careful, though, because this poll was conducted over one night - last night. And that was before this morning's revelation of that whistleblower complaint being released.

But here's what we know so far, and it's instructive for how the messaging war is going to play out. Independents are not onboard with this at this point. Half of them in the poll say they disapprove⁶, and that's a key group that's trended with Democrats on almost everything in the Trump era but just not impeachment. People who live in the suburbs, they're also not quite convinced. They're split. And Democrats have work to do to convince both of those key groups. Remember suburban⁷ voters helped Democrats over the line in 2018 to take back the House.

The poll also found big splits that are pretty familiar by now with - by gender⁸, party and place. Women, especially women with college degrees, said they're supportive of beginning this process. Men and people who live in rural areas - largely not.

Overall, though, Americans want to hear more. Three-quarters said they want to hear the whistleblower testify before Congress, and a majority thinks that there needs to be more investigation⁹ into that phone call President Trump had with the president of Ukraine.

SHAPIRO: This story has totally consumed official Washington over the last week. Beyond D.C., are people paying attention?

MONTANARO: Yeah. I mean, what the pollsters found here was that 7 in 10, in fact, are saying that they are paying attention to this story. But so far, it's a higher percentage of Republicans, actually, who've been tuning¹⁰ in - 80%, compared to 70% of Democrats, just 64% of independents. And again, that messaging is going to be so crucial when it comes to independents because they're such a key group for people who could be persuaded here.

SHAPIRO: Domenico, this story is moving so fast. We record an interview earlier in the day, and it's obsolete¹¹ by the time we're on the air...

MONTANARO: I know.

SHAPIRO: ...In the afternoon. So how reliable are these poll numbers actually?

MONTANARO: Well, poll numbers can always change. And we should note that this poll - we should, you know, always say - is a snapshot of what people thought. And this was after the day of the details of the phone call Trump had with the president of Ukraine, when that was released. This was a one-night poll, so it was conducted before that whistleblower complaint came out, like we said earlier.

So we're going to have to see what happens in the coming days. A lot can and probably will change. Our pollsters warn that the next 48 to 72 hours are going to be crucial because, in the words of one of our pollsters, right now it looks like we're in the middle of a political storm here, and opinions are very fluid.

SHAPIRO: That's NPR's senior political editor Domenico Montanaro.

Thank you.

MONTANARO: You're welcome.

(SOUNDBITE OF SLOWHY'S "REAL HAPPY LIFE")

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

3 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 disapprove   

v.不赞成，不同意，不批准

参考例句：

• I quite disapprove of his behaviour.我很不赞同他的行为。
• She wants to train for the theatre but her parents disapprove.她想训练自己做戏剧演员，但她的父母不赞成。

7 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

8 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

9 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

10 tuning   

n.调谐，调整，调音v.调音( tune的现在分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• They are tuning up a plane on the flight line. 他们正在机场的飞机跑道上调试一架飞机。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The orchestra are tuning up. 管弦乐队在定弦。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 obsolete   

adj.已废弃的，过时的

参考例句：

• These goods are obsolete and will not fetch much on the market.这些货品过时了，在市场上卖不了高价。
• They tried to hammer obsolete ideas into the young people's heads.他们竭力把陈旧思想灌输给青年。