CAMPAIGN ’88 : Finalists Please Voters

Despite talk about Vice President George Bush and Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis being unexciting candidates, voters are generally satisfied that these two men are the finalists in this year’s presidential race, according to a Gallup poll.

A majority of voters (67%) who call themselves Republicans or independents leaning toward the GOP say they are satisfied with the vice president as their party’s nominee. Nearly as many Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters (62%) express satisfaction that the Massachusetts governor is expected to be nominated by their party at next month’s convention.

While there is considerable voter support for changing some aspects of the electoral process, voters generally endorse the primary and caucus system that reduced the field of presidential contenders to Bush and Dukakis.

Currently, close to half of the voters surveyed (48%) say the primary and caucus system has been a good way to select the best qualified candidates for President. Slightly more than a third (37%) are displeased with the process, and 15% have no opinion.

The survey results are based on telephone interviews with 1,005 registered voters nationwide conducted June 10-12. The error rate attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 4 percentage points.