O'NEIL ASSOCIATES VALLEY MONITOR

 

 

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?

Mccain, Bush Head List Of Politicians People Would Most Like To Have Dinner With

On the eve of Thanksgiving Day, the O'Neil Associates Valley Monitor has explored with whom valley residents would most like to dine.  John McCain edges George Bush as the official voters would most like to have dinner with. By a slight (28% to 26%) margin, Maricopa County voters chose their hometown senator over the incumbent president as the person with whom they would most like to spend some time. All other officials trailed significantly: Sheriff Joe Arpaio (13%), Arizona Attorney General Janet Napolitano (10%), Senator Jon Kyl (4%), and Governor Jane Hull (3%).  One in nine respondents volunteered, "I would not want to have dinner with any of them."

There are some interesting differences in who would like to dine with whom.  McCain was most popular as a dinner companion among liberals (39%). Males (32%) also selected McCain more frequently than females (23%).  Independents showed a strong preference for McCain (32%), while registered Republicans preferred President Bush (37%).  President Bush was selected by 42% of conservatives and 42% of those who identify most with the Republican Party. Napolitano was chosen disproportionately by Democrats (21%) and women (14% versus 6% among men).  Interestingly, Sheriff Joe Arpaio's figures had virtually no difference by gender. He was actually chosen more often by liberals (17%) than conservatives (10%).

 

ARPAIO MOST OVER-EXPOSED

We followed this up with a question about over-exposure. Respondents were asked, "Which of the elected officials I just asked you about, are you most tired hearing about?"  Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio heads this list. He was selected by 30%, a number substantially higher than most other officials; John McCain was chosen by 21%, Governor Jane Hull by 13%, and President Bush by 11%. Republicans and conservatives (27% each) were most likely to cite Senator McCain. In contrast, liberals (20%) and Democrats (18%) were most likely to select President Bush.  Those who identified most with the Independent party disproportionately selected Governor Hull (20%).

About the Poll.  The O’Neil Associates Valley Monitor is an independent, scientific, periodic random community survey of the metropolitan Phoenix area and the State of Arizona; as always, this Valley Monitor poll was not sponsored or paid for by any outside organization. Four hundred interviews were conducted with randomly selected Maricopa county voters between August 28 and September 3, 2001. The “sampling error” associated with this survey is approximately ±5.0%. In other words, the chances are approximately 95 in 100 that we would have obtained the same results—within a margin of ±5.0%—had we interviewed every Maricopa county voter. Other sources of possible survey error, such as question wording, should also be considered, but are inherently not quantifiable.

O'Neil Associates, Inc. is a Tempe-based public opinion research firm specializing in client-focused attitude and awareness studies for a wide variety of industries and organizations.

FOR RELEASE:   Thursday, November 22, 2001                  (VMP2001-181-1614)
FURTHER INFORMATION:    Michael O'Neil, Ph.D., (480) 967-4441

These results may be reported freely provided that they are identified as the “O’Neil Associates Valley Monitor” including identification on any graphic material. Media interviews available.