60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll August Edition
Welcome to the 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll for August, a month that is conspicuously devoid of holidays and special events. The reason of course is so people may enjoy the long, lazy summer days, take family vacations and refresh themselves before the inevitable post Labor Day return to a faster pace of life. August was named for Augustus Caesar, who was known for bringing peace to the Roman empire, rebuilding Rome and its infrastructure and helping to create a more stable government.
Hopefully our representatives in Washington will take note. And now our poll results for August...
More than half of Americans (56 percent) believe that the United States should authorize cyber attacks against other countries when necessary. Twenty seven percent say no and 17 percent do not know. With more revelations from the Defense Department and other areas of government about the theft of important and sensitive material, it seems not only justified but urgent that America find a way to identify and protect ourselves from these thieves.
Check out the Vanity Fair slideshow.
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The term that is most closely associated with the Mormon religion is Utah with 32 percent. Next up is Joseph Smith, the founder with 19 percent, followed by the controversial practice of polygamy with 18 percent. Musical performers "The Osmonds" were next with 11 percent, and presidential candidate Mitt Romney was last with only 2 percent of the vote.
When asked if they have ever been to a psychiatrist or a therapist, 64 percent of Americans said no and 35 percent said yes. People under 30 (70 percent) or over 65 (76 percent) were least likely to have seen a mental health professional, while people between the ages of 30-64 (40 percent) were most likely to have engaged their services.
Seventy two percent of Americans do not think that professional athletes should be using performance enhancing drugs even if they are legal. Twenty three percent think they should be allowed. With the sport of cycling a mess, the recent steroid era of baseball and more than a few tarnished Olympic medals, it is no wonder that Americans yearn for honest athletic performances and a level playing field.
Twenty eight percent of Americans think there are too many crime shows on TV these days. Twenty percent (especially those under 30) think there are too many singing competitions and 14 percent say there's too many shows about "Jersey." Cooking (5 percent) and medicine (1 percent) seem to have room to grow. Twenty four percent think there are not too many of any genre and like them all. Why are there so many crime shows? Have you seen the ratings for CSI, NCIS and the Mentalist? Who says crime doesn't pay?
Now for this month's guilty pleasure, we get to suspend reality for a moment. Which fictional character would Americans most like to go on an adventure with? Twenty percent would play sleuth alongside Sherlock Holmes. Eighteen percent would sail the seas with captain Jack Sparrow. Fifteen percent would take on Voldemort with young wizard Harry Potter and 9 percent would go tomb raiding with archaeologist Lara Croft. But the big winner with 31 percent is Commander James Bond, who while saving the world from certain destruction, still has time for exotic travel, vodka martinis and beautiful women.
As the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 approaches, 27 percent of Americans think the world was a safer place before the attacks. Twenty five percent think it is safer now and after the many changes to our way of life, and the huge price we have paid for it, nearly half (46 percent) of all Americans do not think much has changed one way or the other.
By a 2 to 1 margin, Americans still believe in the famous quote from the Emma Lazarus poem inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty and think that it should still apply today. Those ideals are what makes America special and great. One problem, there are far more "huddled masses yearning to breathe free" than we can possibly welcome. Perhaps the country should deal with the status of the millions of illegal immigrants that are already living here before we debate how many more may follow.
Fifty two percent of Americans did not know who Pippa Middleton is. Six percent said CNBC correspondent and another 6 percent said children's book heroine. But a third of Americans did know that she is a British socialite and also happens to be the younger sister of Kate Middleton, the elegant new wife of Prince William of England.
Seventy three percent of Americans are convinced that Osama bin Laden was killed by Navy Seals when they raided his compound in Pakistan. Twenty four percent still have doubts that he is really dead.
A third of Americans believe that they get most of their unwanted calories from sweets and snacks. Twenty four percent say fast food is the culprit. Soft drinks and home cooking each get 10 percent, while alcohol gets 7 percent. Thirteen percent rightly or wrongly possess no guilt and say, "who says I have unwanted calories?"
This poll was conducted at the CBS News interviewing facility among a random sample of 1,045 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone June 17-20, 2011. Phone numbers were dialed from random digit dial samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher.
This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls. Read more about this poll.