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Discussion Topic: Obama or McCain At Your Venison BBQ?
From an Associated Press story on Yahoo! News:
People would rather barbecue burgers with Barack than munch meats with McCain.
While many are still deciding which should be president, by 52 percent to 45 percent they would prefer having Barack Obama than John McCain to their summer cookout, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo! News poll released Wednesday.
Men are about evenly divided between the two while women prefer Obama by 11 percentage points. Whites prefer McCain, minorities Obama. And Obama is a more popular guest with younger voters while McCain does best with the oldest.
Who would you want at your cookout—and let’s make it venison burgers?
I'd want Obama because it's the closest i'd get him to eating crow.
Posted by: Thomas | July 02, 2008 at 12:21 PM
I'm sorry, but why ruin a good BBQ by inviting a politician? :)
Posted by: Tom Sorenson | July 02, 2008 at 12:26 PM
AMEN!
Posted by: alabamahunter | July 02, 2008 at 01:08 PM
I WOULD INVITE BOTH, PROVIDING THEY BRING THE FOOD AND I WILL DO ALL THE COOKING.
Posted by: LYNN W. | July 02, 2008 at 01:40 PM
Well, guess what - the poll is slanted heavily to Democrats.
http://news.yahoo.com/page/election-2008-political-pulse-methodology;_ylt=Ap.leoknyd8an56HAX0wWApxJZt4
The poll was conducted in 5 waves.
First wave: 1049 D and 827 R
Second: 847 D and 655 R
Fifth: 844 D and 637 R
On average, the poll favored Democrats over Republicans by 56% to 44%. It did not come close to an accurate reflection of America.
This was not a poll - it was propaganda.
Posted by: jack | July 02, 2008 at 03:03 PM
As long as Cindy McCain brought the beer, I'd invite 'em all.
Posted by: Gman | July 02, 2008 at 03:37 PM
Niether one of them would be welcome at my fire pit.
Posted by: Blue Ox | July 02, 2008 at 05:23 PM
Jack,
Im not a statistician (maybe you or someone else here is and can lend a more informed opinion) but I do recognize that we have to be careful in distinguising between cause and effect when looking at a poll like this.
According to the article, the sample collected was both sizeable and completely random. With this in mind, it seems equally likely that the majority of respondants picked Obama because a greater percentage of the population is leaning towardas voting for Obama and are identifying themselves as democrats in this election.
Now, it could be that the "random sample" wasn't completely random at all, (ie. The names picked randomly out of the phone book were all from say, Chicago, LA, or Manhattan)but we don't know this...
Posted by: Bob | July 02, 2008 at 05:56 PM
The question then is: Is the discrepancy between Democrats and Republicans polled the result of poll bias, or is it instead because more people are leaning towards Obama in the election and identifying themselves as democrats as a result...
What say you?
Posted by: Bob | July 02, 2008 at 05:59 PM
I'd invite McCain. I'm sure after a few beers you could get him to tell some war stories. Besides, Obama might bring Hillary along seings as they're all united and such and her presence would spoil any BBQ no matter how much booze youi have.
Posted by: Walt Smith | July 02, 2008 at 06:10 PM
I am firmly in the NEITHER ONE camp! This fall I will pull the lever for McCain but only because he is the marginally better of two lackluster choices. I would not care to break bread with either of them.
SA
Posted by: SilverArrow | July 02, 2008 at 11:21 PM
Politicians are not allowed on my property- even if I vote for them. This poll is a presidential candidate poll in disguise- people usually vote for whoever they'd rather drink a beer or grill food with.
Posted by: William | July 03, 2008 at 12:10 AM
McCain. I think he'd have more interesting tales to tell over a beer.
Posted by: duane | July 03, 2008 at 11:44 AM
Mc Cain gets some of my backstrap
DON M.
Posted by: don m. | July 03, 2008 at 10:44 PM
I would invite both.......but i doubt Barrack would come to my place...seeing as how i have all these EVIL guns running loose around here....
Posted by: Mike | July 04, 2008 at 07:50 AM
I would have picked Obama but he is turning out to be a little shaky he dont know what to say to get elected one minute his for the next ninute his against. Neither would be invited until they stand Loyal for the People.
Posted by: AJ | July 06, 2008 at 06:24 AM
Bob - during my limited history with political polling (I've done volunteer work at many levels for about a dozen campaigns) I learned that the only truly representative sampling when looking for a valid national pool is roughly 30% D, 30% R and 40% independent (not leaning). The background data on the BBQ poll doesn't seem to match. Even though it's a silly puff-piece poll, the media need to exert care in reporting results. While the story did link to the poll results and methodolgy, the author did not seem to think it was important to identify the bias in the sample, which is the first thing every reporter should check when given poll results.
In the end, I'm with Tom: why ruin a good BBQ by inviting a politician?
Posted by: jack | July 07, 2008 at 11:10 AM
I'd rather have Obama over. He's a less fussy eater and, let's face it, we all know what story John McCain is going to tell over and over again.
Then there's the risk of the guest getting argumentative with someone, blowing up and ruining the whole party for everyone. I know that Barack Obama isn't going to do that. McCain has a bad habit of losing his cool and screaming at his wife, grabbing South American diplomats by their shirt collars and generally ruining the day for everyone around him.
Posted by: Jackson Landers | July 16, 2008 at 12:32 PM