Poll Looks at Public Opinion Over Penn State Scandal
A new poll samples public opinion over the firing of Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, and other aspects of the child sex abuse scandal surrounding former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
Pennsylvania voters narrowly support the decision to fire Paterno by 52 to 43 percent. But the Quinnipiac University poll found support stronger for the dismissal of University President Graham Spanier, at 74%.
Assistant poll director Tim Malloy says 65% of those surveyed think football has too much influence at Penn State, but 67% say it would be a bad idea to turn down a bowl bid for this year’s football team. He says on the one hand, they’re saying maybe we want to ratchet down the football program at the school, but in the near term, don’t hurt the players.
Malloy says voters were split over Governor Corbett’s handling of the child sex abuse case, but they give the Governor an overall approval rating of 47 to 34 percent. He says that rating is actually up slightly since the scandal broke, so Corbett did not get hurt by this. He says Governor Corbett is polling better than some other Republican governors.
While Quinnipiac University usually polls on political issues, Malloy says this was such a big story, it’s a state university, the Governor was aware of it when he was Attorney General and Joe Paterno is probably the best known figure in the state. He says people in Pennsylvania wanted to talk about this.
