By the way, a funny note on Zogby. He was my next door neighbor in a suburb of Utica NY back in the mid-60′s to mid 70s. I think he might be a year or two younger than me, because I didn’t have anything to do with him back then. But it is a small world.

Regarding the Zogby poll. Interestingly, Zogby neglects to give us an overall analysis of this sampling, preferring to emphasize the difference between Walmart shoppers and Target shoppers (as though we did not already know of this split). If you multiply each store’s sample percentage by %voters for each candidate and then sum each candidate’s results across all stores, you get Obama 45% v McCain 39% of all retail shoppers polled. This is a narrower gap than the more suggestive Target/Cosco/Penny gap. There is a missing 15% of Zogby polled voters about which we know nothing but can assume a similar distribution. Possibly these are people so rich or elitist they’d never shop retail, though I think the Neiman Marcus category would suit them. Or, they may be ‘equal-opportunity’ shoppers without any preference.

1. Who will do a better job of providing healthcare? Democrats, made it so we can’t be denied services.

2. Which party has the better position on abortion? Republicans, we Hispanics want big families.

3. Who is doing a better job of taking care of the economy? Democrats – no stinking background checks on jobs.

4. Should we raise taxes? Sure, I’m not paying any.

5. How good a job is Obama doing so far? Great, my whole family is set to cross the border the day he takes office.

6. Is global warming a real problem? Not really. It needs some warming up here (Mexico’s a lot warmer).

7. Is global warming caused by man or nature? Man. Now if you’ll excuse me, I got to go pick up my F-350. I just got it modified for towing my 200hp, 35ft cabin cruiser.

***

Same automated poll given to Ms. Phyllis Jackson (white, female, age-58, Unitarian)

1. Who does a better job of providing healthcare? Doctors

2. Which party has the better position on abortion? Planned-Parenthood

3. Who is doing a better job of taking care of the economy? My broker

4. Should we raise taxes? Yes, it’s the patriotic thing to do.

5. How good a job is Obama doing so far? He’s so much cuter than that old coot McCain.

6. Is global-warming a real problem? Yes, I hate driving in snow.

7. Is global-warming caused by man or nature? There’s a difference?

***

Same automated poll given to Mr. Phil Jackson (black, male, age-50, black liberation church)

1. Who does a better job of providing healthcare? Obama

2. Which party has the better position on abortion? Obama

3. Who is doing a better job of taking care of the economy? Obama

4. Should we raise taxes? Yes, if Obama say so.

5. How good a job is Obama doing so far? You making sum crack ‘bout Obama?

6. Is global warming a real problem? Was-up with that?

7. Is global warming caused by man or nature? White-people caused it.

***

Same automated poll given to Mr. Philip Jason (white, male, age-27, Jewish)

1. Who does a better job of providing healthcare? Democrats, Republicans just don’t care people are dying.

2. Which party has the better position on abortion? Labor, ah … Democrat

3. Who is doing a better job of taking care of the economy? Paulson and Democrats

4. Should we raise taxes? How else are we going to pay for government?

5. How good a job is Obama doing so far? Okay I guess, but I do wish he’d say something nice about Israel.

6. Is global warming a real problem? We have to take action now or we’re going to lose the polar bears, NYC and my grandma’s retirement home in Florida will be wiped out; war, famine, plague, reality TV, the end of civilization as we know it …

7. Is global warming caused by man or nature? It’s caused by SUV’s and the rape of the planet

***

Same automated poll given to Mr. Achmed Jasmanian (undisclosed, male, age-36, Muslim)

1. Who does a better job of providing healthcare? Republicans – they don’t steal all my money to give to useless street bums.

2. Which party has the better position on abortion? Republicans. Democrats are godless infidel whores who defile manhood and murder the unborn sons (subtext – would be okay if they just wanted to abort useless girls).

3. Who is doing a better job of taking care of the economy? Republicans. At least, I don’t have to pay them so much protection to avoid deportation and keep my convenience-store open. Anyway, that’s not why I vote Democrat. I vote Democrat because stupid Republican didn’t want me here. At least, not without waiting my turn.

4. Should we raise taxes? No, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice …?

5. How good a job is Obama doing so far? Stupid American! He hasn’t done anything yet!

6. Is global warming a real problem? You godless infidels crack me down!

7. Is global warming caused by man or nature? Why are you asking me same stupid question? Are you trying to trick me into giving different answer? Mama, send Osama more money. He’s right these stupid kuffar need to die. [slams phone down]

Sorry. Missed your joke. Just read it over &, yes, it’s obvious that you’re sending up Zogby.

Oh, well gave me a chance to get off some steam & make a pedantic reference to Rabelais!

Inwood

PS Met my wife in The Dew Drop Inn in Spring Lake (The Irish Riviera) on the Jersey Shore. She hates shopping. And stupid polls directed at women!

OK, I’ll play the game, but only if you follow my serious point about polls, which is that my choices have to go from zero to infinity whether it’s five choices, 10, or 100. Ya see, I have zero interest in Bait & Tackle shops.

My serious point in citing this silly poll question is a simple one: in my opinion, admittedly based on anecdotal evidence, most men don’t like shopping & don’t have a favorite store & since this poll makes them choose one, it’s bogus insofar as it attempts to relate either of the candidates to shopping preferences. It’s like Barbara Walter’s tree question.

Phil’s answer to me about my 1980 experience is correct. The pollsters were surprised that an amiable dunce (in the memorable phrase of Tip O’Neil who based his foreign policy in Latin America on the aspirations of his sister, a nun; but I digress), an affable Irishman, an actor, had beaten a Democrat after the Dems had overthrown the evil Republicans only four years earlier. They thought & they thought & came to the conclusion that something sinster had to be the cause, Their bogeyman was: The Religious Right (Boo, Hiss).

See, these religious (that very word discrediting them)people came from somewhere like Rabelais’ Chaneph, the island of religious hypocrites, unholy water swallowers, paternoster mumblers, chaplet jugglers, & sham saints who lived by begging. (See: Pantagruel, iv. 63, 64.) So to any reasonable pollster doing his/her job, any sensible person would have to have some, repeat some, concern about these people, if one can call them people, just as you assume that I must have some interest in a Bait & Tackle shop.

So they left no room for zero concern about these freaks in 1980s Polling land, even though that approach flunks Stats 101, not to mention Logic 101.

Unscience in polls, from Althouse Blog

Monday, December 08, 2008
McCain Wins Wal-Mart Shoppers, But Obama Prevailed at Target, Macy’s, Costco & JC Penney.”

http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.cfm?ID=1649

McCain also got Sears and Kohl’s. And Obama got Nieman Marcus and Bloomingdale’s. Make of it what you will.

Are you defined by a store? The poll subjects had to pick one store from a list.

Edit of a comment:

It’s the 2008 version of the “Bradley Effect”: many people who “voted” in favor of the other stores misled pollsters because they were ashamed to admit that they shopped at Wal-Mart.

I always lie on polls, but then there is most likly some lib out there canceling my vote with his lies, so it doesn’t really matter.

I know this comment isn’t woth much. I just did it to get in on the other 100 comments.