Whitewater Probe Sparks Little Public Interest, Survey Finds

Despite intense media coverage, most Americans are paying little or no attention to news accounts of the investigation into President Clinton’s past business dealings, according to a survey released Friday.

Moreover, after a month in which the so-called Whitewater story has increasingly become the focus of White House press coverage, Clinton’s approval rating has remained unchanged at 48%, according to the study by Times Mirror Center for People and the Press.

The survey, in which 1,494 adults were interviewed from Jan. 6 through Jan. 13, has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points. The results could have been influenced by the wording of the questions.

The Times Mirror Center is owned by Times Mirror Co., which also owns The Times and other newspaper and communications operations.

Only 13% of those interviewed said they had paid “very close” attention to questions about the First Family’s investment in Whitewater Development Corp., an Ozark Mountain vacation resort, while Clinton was governor of Arkansas, the survey found. Twenty-nine percent said they had paid “fairly close” attention.

By contrast, 57% said they had followed the stories “not too closely” or “not at all.”

Only 15% of those surveyed said they had paid very close attention to claims by some Arkansas state troopers that they helped arrange extramarital affairs for Clinton when he was governor and before his presidential inauguration.

Nearly 60% of those interviewed said they had followed that story “not too closely” and “not at all closely.”

Clinton’s approval rating was highest in February, 1993, gradually dropping to a low point in June and August. It has climbed since then, with a slight dip in October.

The low level of interest in the Whitewater story is not out of line with past survey figures concerning stories about Washington controversies or allegations of wrongdoing.

Since 1989, when the Times Mirror Center first began examining such matters, the highest level of interest in such stories--31%--occurred during the Iran-Contra trial of Oliver L. North.

In Clinton’s tenure, the most closely watched controversy involved attorney general candidates Zoe Baird and Kimba M. Wood.

Both women lost out over issues surrounding the hiring of household workers who were immigrants and whether the nominees had paid Social Security taxes. That story was followed closely by 24% of those interviewed.