60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll: October Edition

Welcome to the 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll for October. October is known for beautiful autumn days, spectacular foliage and bountiful harvests. The second Monday in October is Columbus Day which "celebrates" his arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492. His "discovery" of the Americas has long been controversial and more recently two additional observance days have been created. October 9th is Leif Ericson Day which commemorates his landing in Vinland (Newfoundland) nearly 500 years before Columbus. October 10th is Native Americans Day which celebrates the peoples who "discovered" the New World thousands of years before that.

For most little people, Halloween is the most important night of the month and for us adults it is a night that evokes fond memories of a simpler time in our lives. This Halloween if you are lucky enough to reconnect to that inner child, that would be quite a treat.

And now the Poll results....

A great brand often starts with a name and 27 percent of Americans say the American brand name that makes them most proud belongs to automaker Henry Ford. Next up with 24 percent is the genius that was Walt Disney. Denim maker extraordinaire Levi Strauss was next with 14 percent followed by the motorcycle icons Harley and Davidson with 13 percent and business titans the Watson family, founders of Big Blue, IBM with 12 percent.

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Despite recent hacking scandals, tabloid journalism and a perceived loosening of the rules of reporting, three out of four Americans believe that journalists are more trustworthy than politicians. Eighteen percent don't know and only six percent think that politicians are more trustworthy. Sadly, it appears that there are very few Mr. Smiths left in Washington.

It has been said, keep your friends close and your enemies closer, which may account for our relationship with Pakistan (despite Admiral Mullen's recent accusations). Here is the list of countries and the percentage of Americans that consider them an ally or friend. Israel 70 percent, Russia 50 percent, China 44 percent, Saudi Arabia 38 percent, Cuba 23 percent, Yemen 13 percent.

With Americans divided evenly over whether China and Saudi Arabia are friends or foes, they might now be classified under a new category, frenemies...

Only six percent of Americans read their horoscopes every day and another six percent read it once a week. Of the remaining 88 percent, half will read it if they happen to see it and half never read it. A horoscope is a forecast of one's future based on conditions that day that are subject to change.

There is also another word for that, it's called life...

Seventeen percent of Americans took a shine to the Big Apple, New York City with it's concentration of wealth and power as America's most decadent city. Over a thousand miles to the south is Miami home of hot beaches, men, women and party scenes. Some (12 percent) like it hot. Next up is the non-stop party known as New Orleans and 12 percent made that "Big Easy" choice.

Socially progressive San Francisco was last, with only 9 percent choosing the city by the bay. And the winner as America's most decadent city is... you guessed it, Sin City, Las Vegas. Thirty-five percent of Americans think (or hope) that what happens in Vegas....

Forty percent of Americans think the most important characteristic for a President to have is intelligence. Thirty-five percent say character, 13 percent chose conviction, seven percent resilience and two percent ruthlessness. Democrats leaned toward intelligence and Republicans toward character. Looking at the consensus list of the greatest presidents, they almost always possessed both.

Two-thirds of Americans answered "no" when asked if the idea of killing their own food appealed to them or not and 27 percent said the idea does appeal to them. There are probably many people that hunt and kill their own food responsibly. Yet for anyone who has seen "Food Inc." or similar documentaries showing the unholy business that takes place in some slaughterhouses and then continue with the status quo, it must be somewhat conflicting. Should we continue to accept those standards or change ours? Let the ethics debate begin.

Forty-four percent of Americans would be feeling lucky to own Google's search engine which powers one of the world's great commercial enterprises.

Eighteen percent think that things would go better with Coca Cola's secret formula.

Thirteen percent think they would be wizards for choosing to own the rights to Harry Potter. Ten percent think that owning the rights to all that is Elvis would be worth a "King's" ransom. And 8 percent would "use the force" to acquire the Star Wars franchise.

Forty-five percent of Americans correctly identified GOP as standing for "Grand Old Party". Thirty-five percent guessed that it meant "Government of the People."

Considering that a recent NY Times/ CBS Poll recorded an all time low 12 percent approval rating for how Congress is doing its job, maybe it's surprising more people didn't vote for "Grumpy Old People".

Americans are divided as to whether true artificial intelligence, computers thinking for themselves, will ever exist. Thirty-seven percent think it will happen in their lifetime, 36 percent say it will happen sometime in the future and 23 percent say it will never happen. Those 23 percent must have missed IBM's super computer beat the two best Jeopardy players in a recent exhibition on television. Watson may not be as scary as Hal, the renegade computer from 2001: A Space Odyssey, but it's a start....

This poll was conducted at the CBS News interviewing facility among a random sample of 1,165 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone August 19-23, 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.