LINES IN THE SAND

ET CETERA

AMERICANS STAND FIRM AGAINST BERNIE MADOFF, ONLINE SEXUAL PREDATORS, AND CORPORATE CASH IN POLITICS. BUT THEY'D BE WILLING TO RE-DRAW THE MAP OF THE U.S.A.

THE 60 MINUTES/VANITY FAIR POLL

mericans are like straitlaced, upright citizens who turn out to have a surprising, quirky streak—you know, the accountant with an entire room devoted to his collection of Pez dispensers. Alphabetized by character. That sort of thing. More than half of us, if we were president, would choose first to fix the economy: predictable. The last person we would choose to pardon would be Bernie Madoff: predictable. Financially, we consider ourselves mainly in the same boat we were in six months ago, or worse: predictable. These are somehow reassuring responses—we’re all basically on the same page.

Lulled into a state of complacency, we then unleash some doozies. For instance: Why would a higher percentage of women than men forgive alleged girlfriend assaulter Chris Brown? Who exactly are the 9 percent of Americans who, given the opportunity to change the map of the United States, would declare, “Merge the Dakotas”? (We want to meet these people. We feel they must have a sense of humor.) And how to account for the fact that 8 percent of those polled think reality television has actually gotten better (unless, perversely, it gets “better” when it gets worse)?

One item worthy of special note: if the entire nation (as reflected by our poll) had been the Supreme Court, that recent, controversial 5-4 decision on campaign spending would not have been nearly as close. Indeed, it would have gone 7-2—the other way.

NOTE: This poll was conducted at the CBS News interviewing facility among a random sample of868 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone January 29-31, 2010. Some low-percentage answer choices have been omitted.

@vf.com VIDEO: MICHAEL HOGAN AND CALI TRESULTT0

If you were president of the United States and COULD ADDRESS ONLY ONE MAJOR ISSUE during your term, which one of the following would it be? Creating a robust economy 52% Enacting health-care reform 20 Making the borders safer 1 1 Making college affordable 1 1 Reducing global warming 5 Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that CORPORATIONS CAN NOW SPEND AS MUCH MONEY AS THEY WISH on political ad campaigns. Do you agree with this decision, disagree, or not care one way or the other? ALL REP. DEM. IND. Disagree.67% 58% 70% 69% Agree 16 29. 8 17 Don't care 10.21.12 Scott Brown, the newly elected senator from Massachusetts, once posed nude in Cosmopolitan magazine. IF A FEMALE CANDIDATE WITH SIMILAR POLITICAL VIEWS had posed nude in magazine, do you think she would have won? No .66% 56% 77% ALL MEN WOMEN Yes .18. 23.12 If you had to CHANGE THE MAP OF THE UNITED STATES in one of the following ways, which of these would you do? ALL REP. DEM. IND. Divide California into North and South .24% 33% 18% 24% Give statehood to D.C. .20.... 15.... 25 18 Recombine Virginia and West Virginia .14. 10. 18 12 Combine the Dakotas 9 6. 11 9 Separate New York City from the rest of the state 9. 12. 7 9 Don't know/not sure 25 24 2 1 2 H

If you had to choose, which one of the following men WOULD YOU BE MOST LIKELY TO FORGIVE? ALL MEN WOMEN Tiger Woods 22% 31% 15% Charlie Sheen 12 I 1 1 2 ⅛ John Edwards r' 7 4 I Chris Brown 3 Roman Polanski 3 3 2 Bernie Madoff 0 0 0 Forgive all 32 31 34 Forgive none 15 10 20 For each of the following types of CONTENT ON NETWORK TELEVISION, indicate whether you believe it has gotten better, worse, or remained the same in recent years. Situation comedies 17% 50% 24% Late-night talk shows 9 37 30 Network news 33 28 33 Reality shows 58 16 Commercials 27 35 31

Haiti is one of TWO COUNTRIES ON THE ISLAND OF HISPANIOLA. What is the other country? COLLEGE ALL GRADS Dominican Republic 5 1 % 73% Jamaica 2 Madagascar 2 0 Guatemala 3 0 Costa Rica 2 3 I should check my atlas more 35 20 Of the following things, which do you MISS MOST ABOUT BEING A CHILD? ALL S45 >45 Lack of responsibility 39 o 49% 29% Sense of wonder 22 23 22 Summers off 18 12 24 Naps 12 12 12 Babysitters 2 Which of the following is your BIGGEST INTERNET-RELATED WORRY? ALL PARENTS Kids' being pursued by online sexual predators 33% 53% Becoming the victim of identity theft 30 23 Having my computer infected by a virus 19 Seeing embarrassing old photos posted on Facebook 4 3 Comparing where you were FINANCIALLY SIX MONTHS AGO with where you are today, would you say you are better off, worse off, or in the same place? * K» vV Better off 10% 1 1% 10% Worse off 30 35 2 In same place 59 54 64