VCIOM Press-release

12.03.2008

Press-release No. 899

RUSSIANS FOR HILLARY CLINTON!MOSCOW, March 12, 2008 Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents information on whether Russians are following the course of the presidential election campaign in the USA; whether the respondents think that the result of these elections is going to be important for our country; whose victory most corresponds with Russia's national interests and whom Russians would give their vote to if they could vote at the presidential elections in the USA.The current presidential election campaign in the USA attracts a little less attention of Russians than the campaign of 2004 did: 36% of respondents used to follow the elections then, whereas 32% do so now (this includes 5% of respondents who express big interest in the campaign, and 27% who are following the campaign from time to time). The pre-election state of affairs in the USA causes the greatest interest among residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg (41% of them follow the election campaign in the USA); residents of small towns and villages demonstrate the least interest in the elections (27%).Every second respondent (48%) considers the result of presidential elections in the USA to be important for Russia, every third respondent (34%) does not share this point of view. Inhabitants of Moscow and St. Petersburg speak about the high importance of the given event more often (62%) than respondents from other cities (47-50%) and villages (43%).The victory of a presidential contender from the Democratic Party in the presidential elections in the USA correspondents to the national interests of Russia to a greater degree, as 19% of respondents identify. Only 4% of respondents adhere to the opposite point of view, i.e. that the victory of a candidate from the Republican Party is more favourable for Russia. About one third of respondents (31%) believe that the issue does not really matter for Russia. However, nearly half of respondents (46%) find it hard to provide an answer to this question.If respondents had an opportunity to take part in the presidential elections in the USA, 19% would vote for Hillary Clinton, 4% for Barack Оbama; any other candidate would not obtain more than 1% of the vote. A quarter of respondents (25%) would not participate in the elections. Half of respondents (48%) find it hard to provide an answer to the question whom they would give the vote to in this case.The initiative All-Russia opinion poll was conducted by VCIOM on February 9-10, 2008. 1600 respondents were interviewed each time in 153 population areas of 46 regions of Russia. The statistical error does not exceed 3.4%.

There is a presidential election campaign going on in the USA. Are you following it?
	August 2004	February 2008
Yes, I am closely following it	5	5
I am following it, but only from time to time	31	27
I am not following it	60	67
Hard to say	4	1

There is a presidential election campaign going on in the USA. Are you following it?
	Total respondents	Type of settlement
	Total respondents	Moscow and St. Petersburg	More than 500 thousand residents	100-500 thousand residents	Less than 100 thousand residendts	Villages
Yes, I am closely following it	5	7	6	4	4	5
I am following it, but only from time to time	27	34	30	31	23	22
I am not following it	67	58	62	64	72	71
Hard to say	1	1	2	1	1	2

Do you think that the result of presidential elections in the USA is important for Russia?
	October 2004	February 2008
Yes, it is very important	20	15
It is quite important	33	33
It is not really important	26	22
It is not important at all	12	12
Hard to say	9	18

Do you think that the result of presidential elections in the USA is important for Russia?
	Total respondents	Type of settlement
	Total respondents	Moscow and St. Petersburg	More than 500 thousand residents	100-500 thousand residents	Less than 100 thousand residents	Villages
Yes, it is very important	15	28	16	14	12	13
It is quite important	33	34	32	36	35	30
It is not really important	22	15	24	26	25	21
It is not important at all	12	13	11	8	10	15
Hard to say	18	10	17	16	18	21

Whose victory at the presidential elections in the USA do you think most of all corresponds with Russia's national interests?
	Total respondents	Level of education
	Total respondents	Elementary or lower, junior secondary education	Secondary education (school or vocational school)	Post-secondary education (technical school)	Incomplete higher education (no less than 6 semesters), higher education
Democratic presidential contender	19	11	17	19	24
Republican presidential contender	4	2	5	5	3
It makes no difference to Russia	31	23	27	34	33
Hard to say	46	64	51	42	40

If you could participate in the presidential elections in the USA, which of the presidential contenders would you vote for?
Hillary Clinton (Democratic Party)	19
Barack Obama ( Democratic Party)	4
John McCain (Republican Party)	1
Mike Huckabee (Republican Party)	1
Rudolf Giuliani (Republican Party)	1
Mitt Romney (Republican Party)	0
I would not go to vote	25
Hard to say	48

Category: USA. Other American countries

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