Most Americans are willing to trade less public accessibility for greater White House security, a new HuffPost/YouGov poll shows.
But that doesn't mean they're on board with imposing strict new security measures after a man jumped the White House fence last week and made it all the way inside.
According to the poll, 54 percent of Americans would make the White House more secure even if it became somewhat less accessible to the public. Only 32 percent would keep the White House more accessible to the public even if that meant it was slightly less secure.
On the other hand, most Americans -- 55 percent -- think that the president already has enough security at the White House and while speaking at public events, while only 25 percent think he does not.
Similarly, 55 percent said of the recent security breach that it "could have been prevented by more closely following existing security measures," while 29 percent said it was "a sign that tighter new security measures are needed in the future."
Americans are divided over one proposal that the Secret Service is reportedly considering. Forty-one percent said they would support requiring tourists who walk on Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House to submit to bag checks, while 47 percent said they wouldn't.
The poll found partisan differences on the bag check proposal. Fifty-five percent of Democrats, but only 34 percent of Republicans, said they support the idea.
Republicans were also more likely than Democrats to say that the president already has enough security and that it's more important for the White House to remain accessible to the public -- a pattern that could be related to the fact that the White House's current occupant is a Democrat.
The HuffPost/YouGov poll was conducted Sept. 22-24 among 1,000 U.S. adults using a sample selected from YouGov's opt-in online panel to match the demographics and other characteristics of the adult U.S. population. Factors considered include age, race, gender, education, employment, income, marital status, number of children, voter registration, time and location of Internet access, interest in politics, religion and church attendance.
The Huffington Post has teamed up with YouGov to conduct daily opinion polls. You can learn more about this project and take part in YouGov's nationally representative opinion polling. Data from all HuffPost/YouGov polls can be found here.
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