WASHINGTON, June 2 WRS-Congress-&affairs
WASHINGTON, June 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A majority of Americans believe it is likely 100 or more of the current 535 incumbent Members of Congress have extra-marital affairs, according to a nationwide survey of likely November general election voters by Wilson Research Strategies (WRS).
"The Bill Clinton presidency combined with the Internet renaissance took the gloves off, as far as news reporting was concerned," said Chris Wilson, CEO and founder of WRS. "The last decade has been marked by scandal after scandal and while perhaps adultery by politicians wasn't something that was talked about before, today it's on the cover of every newspaper and Internet news site."
According to the WRS survey, more than half (52%) of respondents believe 100 or more current Members of Congress have had an extra-marital affair. Fully one in four (25%) American adults believe 300 or more current Members of Congress have had an extra-marital affair, and one in nine (11%) say nearly all (500+) have had an affair.
The following data represents the results of the survey:
Adulterous Members of Congress% of
Respondents
0 - 4914%
50 - 99 12%
100 - 199 11%
200 - 299 16%
300 - 499 14%
500+ 11%
DK/DNR22%
"As we've progressed from twenty-four hour-a-day cable news to getting our news over the Internet, the ability to disseminate information is exponentially greater," said Wilson. "Voters know so much more about their elected officials now because every little detail is getting reported. Nothing is off the record any more.
"American approval ratings of Congress are at historically low levels," Wilson said. "This data indicates that it isn't just job performance but also moral leadership where Congress is letting down the nation. The simple fact is that voters have historically held officeholders to high standards, and sadly, Congress has become a place where many Americans would not be likely to leave their spouse unattended."
The survey of 800 likely voters nationwide was conducted on May 13-15 and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.46 percentage points.
SOURCE Wilson Research Strategies
