WAL-MART NATION?

ET CETERA

SOAKING THE RICH, TAX CREDITS FOR LIPOSUCTION, AND OTHER WEIGHTY MATTERS: 60 MINUTES AND VANITY FAIR TEAM UP FOR A NEW MONTHLY NATIONAL SURVEY

THE 60 MINUTES/VANITY FAIR POLL

Google Microsoft N.F.L. Goldman Sachs

None of the above

Wal-Mart

48%

The American banking and auto industries have just suffered through one of their worst years ever. Given that, which of the following BEST SYMBOLIZES AMERICA TODAY?

w O Q 5

California and New York City now require calorie counts to be printed on chain-restaurant menus. Which of the following other things would you most like to see happen to REDUCE OBESITY?

Ban on food stamps for high-fat food

Fast-food tax

Soft-drink tax

Scales at restaurants

Tax credit for liposuction

None of the above

30%

21

7

5

4

15

Barack Obama has set a timetable lor a troop pullout in Iraq by 2011. When do you think the president will onnounce thot he has set o timetable for REMOVING U.S. TROOPS FROM AFGHANISTAN?

Beginning of next presidential

campaign . 31

Won't set a

timetable . 33

In about a year

25%

Wal-Mart has said that it is considering the addition of swine-flu, or HINl-flu, vaccination stations to some of its 4,000 mega-stores across the country. IF WAL-MART OFFERED HEALTH-CARE SERVICES-such as flu shots, dental, eye, or basic check-ups— would you consider becoming a Wal-Mart patient?

All 18-29 30-44 45-64 64+

Yes . 43% 58% 46% 40% 26%

No

52

39

51

56

68

If the Obama administration proposed a TAX OF 50 PERCENT OR HIGHER on the incomes of the wealthiest millionaires, would you support it?

•JDER S30K-

51%

S30K $50K

55% 59% 54% 32%

$501

$10

K-

00K 100K+

No

45

41

35

43 64

Do you think TWITTER is

Important new tool A fad that'll fade

Heard of it, but

unsure what it is

What's Twitter?

Alt 18-29 30-44 45-64 64+

15% 22% 14% 14% 9%

39

33

10

51

24

3

48 35 16

24

12

36

11

53

15

WHICH DO YOU THINK IS WORSE:

married politicians' having affairs or politicians' taking bribes? Or are both equally bad? Or don't you care because they are all doing one or the other?

Taking bribes Having affairs Both are bad Don't care

37%

2

44

15

In this recession, which of the following has been the most difficult thing for you to CUT BACK SPENDING ON?

Dining out

Vacations

New clothes

Alcohol

None of the above

33%

27

14

4

13

Which of the following celebrities' likenesses do you think is most likely to be used to ENDORSE PRODUCTS 100 years from now?

Albert Einstein

Michael Jackson

Miley Cyrus

James Dean

Madonna

35%

24

10

6

For women: WHICH OF THESE WOMEN would you most like to trade places with for a week: Michelle Obama, Angelina Jolie, Hillary Clinton, or Beyonc6?

16

13

12

33

For men: WHICH OF THESE MEN would you most like to trade places with for a week: George Clooney,

Barack Obama, Tom Brady, or Bruce Springsteen?

George Clooney Barack Obama Tom Brady Bruce Springsteen Don't know/None

26%

24

17

16

17

Michelle Obama Hillary Clinton Angelina Jolie Beyonce Don't know/None

In this month’s poll—the first in a series—we note that the populists are out in force. Or, rather, are inside and answering their phones. Of all those polled, more than half said, Yeah, sure, go right ahead and raise taxes to 50 percent or higher on the very wealthiest; 43 percent said they would consider becoming “Wal-Mart patients” (that is, they would take advantage if the chain offered basic health-care services); and, speaking of Wal-Mart, 48 percent felt that the chain “best symbolizes America today.” True, some of those people might have meant that cynically. (But only a cynic would really think that.)

A tip of our hat to the 5 percent who support the installation of scales at restaurants. But would it really help solve America's obesity problem? Who knows?-but we do applaud its potential as entertainment spectacle, and ap predate the welcome jolt it would give the tired concept of "dinner theater." (As for the idea of a "tax credit for liposuction"-supported by 4 percent in the poll-we're less enthusiastic. We say: in troduce suction-assisted fat removal to partisan-politics-as-usual at your peril, because, remaining-shreds-of-dignity-wise, everyone loses.)

Are there any dubious conclusions to be drawn about the entire 18-to-29 generation, based solely on its response to the Twitter question? Is that a dare? O.K.: the percentage that called it an “important new tool” was the highest (22 percent) of any age group, and the percentage that felt it was “a fad that will fade” was also the highest (51 percent) of any age group. In other words, the 18-to-29s believe in Twitter’s importance and its inevitable obsolescence, making them... what? Brooding and pessimistic? Wise beyond their years? Too busy tweeting to grasp the question?

And what a shock, incidentally, to note that only 15 percent of the oldest group (64+) responded with “What’s Twitter?” This suggests that almost all of the geezers (not just the ones in Congress) have at least heard ofTwitter. Not bad.

We asked what has been hardest to cut back on in these difficult economic times, and 33 percent (the highest) said “dining out,” while 4 percent (the lowest) said “alcohol.” In other words: Eat, Don’t Drink, and Be Wary (of the scales-for-diners movement noted above).

No surprise that men saw George Clooney and Barack Obama as people whose lives they’d happily swap theirs with, or that women felt that way about Michelle Obama. (Small surprise, maybe, that only 3 percent of women over 64 want to be Beyonce.) But what could it mean that roughly twice as many wom- en as men weren't even interested in any particular fantasy switch (33 percent versus 17 percent)? Well, that Thurber story wasn’t called “The Secret Life of Walterina Mitty,” was it?

NOTE: This survey is based on a random sample of1,097 respondents nationwide. It was conducted by telephone A ugust 27 to 31 by CBS News.