60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll: March Edition
Welcome to the 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll for March. It is said that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, but the Northeast and other parts of the United States are enjoying one of the mildest winters in years. With the political season heating up too, the Republican contenders are hoping that the Ides of March treat them better than they did Julius Caesar.
March is a crossroads for two of America's favorite sports. Spring training marks the renewal of our national pastime where hope springs eternal in the hearts of baseball fans that want to believe that this could be the year that their team goes all the way. For college basketball it marks the end of a long season and the beginning of "March Madness" and the crowning of a new national champion. And let us not forget March 17th, St Patrick's Day, when the venerable saint from the land of a thousand shades of green is honored. It is a holiday not just for the Irish people, but a day when anyone may choose to be a citizen of Ireland and enjoy a day filled with both solemnity and revelry. To all of our readers we wish you a most Happy Spring, and now the results of our poll...
More than half (51 percent) of the Americans that were asked chose the State of the Union address as the most important televised event on the list. Thirty-two percent chose the Super Bowl and only nine percent picked Oscar night. The Academy Awards is big for the producers, actors and those in the industry. And the result of the Super Bowl - despite its ratings supremacy, parties, commercials and halftime show not to mention the game itself - is ultimately most important to the fans of those two teams. But with the many problems facing our nation at this time, and congressional approval at an all-time low, all Americans have a stake in the state of our union.
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Seventy percent of Americans said they did not know what a hedge fund is. Thirty percent said they did, but when asked to define the term many fell short of knowing. They shouldn't feel bad, the financial industry is notorious for making things more complicated than they need to be. In this case, they are funds that cater to the one percent and well-heeled institutions like pension funds and university endowments that understand that with great returns come great risk. Think of it as a high stakes poker game where if you have to ask how much a seat at the table costs, you probably can't afford it.
In the minds of most movie aficionados there is only one James Bond and 56 percent of Americans agree that Sean Connery was the best. None of the others could match the mystique that allowed him to appeal equally to men and women at the same time. Dashing and underrated Pierce Brosnan was next with 10 percent followed by the urbane Roger Moore (nine percent), and the reigning Bond: Daniel Craig (seven percent). The lesser known Bonds, Timothy Dalton and George Lazenby, nearly got .007 percent.
Altogether it sounds like a pretty good Major League infield, but individually 32 percent chose Lee as being the most common surname on the list. Batting second with 30 percent was Garcia, followed by Evans (15 percent) and Hill (13 percent). The name Lee had a built in advantage in that it can be traced to many people of both European and Asian ancestry. Despite that advantage, according to the 2000 Census, Garcia was the most common of the four names.
Picture the person being presented with this question sitting right next to their spouse as it is asked. Now picture 68 percent of said respondents saying that they wouldn't change a thing about their better half. Fourteen percent were daring enough to say they wouldn't mind deleting a few in-laws if they had the chance. Eleven percent mentioned weight as an area for change, four percent said they might change their spouse's age and one percent would let their spouse have the last laugh.
Thirty-six percent of Americans incorrectly identified the 13th president, Millard Fillmore, as never having served as president. Also incorrectly identified by 27 percent was the 23rd President and Civil War General Benjamin Harrison. Both men came to the presidency indirectly. Vice President Fillmore finished Zachary Taylor's term after his untimely death and General Harrison lost the popular election to Grover Cleveland but won the electoral college vote and thus the presidency.
Twenty-four percent of Americans correctly picked Alexander Hamilton as never serving as president. With apologies to Ben Franklin, Americans often equate our currency with dead presidents. Hamilton's likeness on the $10 bill might have thrown people off. He may well have been elected president over time but Aaron Burr killed him in a duel before he had a chance to throw his wig in the ring. Only five percent thought Andrew Jackson of $20 bill fame never served.
Half of all Americans think that having two kids is the ideal number. Twenty-three percent said three is enough while 10 percent went for the large size four or more. Five percent said one child is ideal, two percent said none and nine percent weren't sure.
Two thirds of those Americans asked do not own a gun. Twelve percent said they owned four or more, nine percent said they owned one followed by six percent with two guns and three percent with three guns. This used to be a hot topic politically, but the NRA and others have won the battle over what the Second Amendment means (for now) and the country has a lot of other urgent issues to deal with.
Thirty-nine percent of Americans feel that we should have avoided the War in Iraq.
Thirty-seven percent chose the war in Vietnam, 11 percent said the War on Drugs and four percent picked the War of 1812. With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight a lot of people are angry that the War in Iraq was prosecuted on a false premise, no weapons of mass destruction. But what about Vietnam with 10 times the casualties (over 50,000) and the countless other tragedies of a generation that didn't receive the honors they deserved for their service? Who knows what the War on Drugs is achieving and the War of 1812 seems like it was 200 years ago, what was that about again? After all the blood and treasure Americans have paid, how about this for the answer on which war to avoid? The next one.
Three quarters of Americans are not tempted to engage in online piracy. Eleven percent said they were tempted to download music, six percent would stream TV and five percent would download movies. Nearly nine out of 10 of Americans over the age of 45 said they are not tempted by online piracy, good news for those companies that rely on the honesty of their customers.