PAST PERFECT

AMERICANS DISMISS THE IDEA OF A NEW NATIONAL HOLIDAY. THEY ALSO THUMB THEIR NOSES AT A TRIP TO A TOURIST-FRIENDLY CUBA. (AND ABOUT THAT NEW ⅞ VERSION OF HUCK FlHH1 ⅜⅛ HANDS OFF, PLEASE.

THE 60 MINUTES/VANITY FAIR POLL

NO o changes, please! We Americans are experiencing another of our periodic retrenchments, or so this month's poll suggests. Several proposed new laws were floated to respondents, to no evident enthusiasm: the notions of making public breast-feeding, cigar smoking, child spanking, and cursing illegal each received an unequivocal thumbs-down. Given a range of choices for an optimum retirement age, we slouched toward the familiar 60 to 65. We didn't think much of the recently altered edition of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, with the n-word replaced by "slave"; more than two-thirds of us said changing Twain's book was a "bad idea." (Only 24 percent of African-Americans thought it a good idea.) And while a few of us might have deemed the newly relaxed restrictions on travel to Cuba a cause for celebration—that food! that music! el béisbol! vintage cars with fins!—by and large the public claims virtually no interest in visiting Castro's threadbare Utopia. So, no change in our plans (or absence of plans). Finally, even the notion of a brand-new holiday, tantalizingly dangled before us, barely got us to arise from the Barcalounger and wearily wave the idea away: Sure, fine, maybe Election Day, 37 percent of us said—nice to have a holiday on a day most of us don't vote anyway. And our enthusiasm dwindled from there. (But we bet that if a holiday were suddenly decreed for tomorrow,

as a total surprise, we'd all like the idea just fine.) In short, until something changes, we're not changing a thing.

@vf.com SEE THE COMPLETE POLL RESULTS.

This poll was conducted at the CBS News interviewing facility among a random sample of 1,137 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone January 27-30, 2011. Some low-percentage answer choices have been omitted.

A new edition of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn will remove all instances of the n-word and replace it with the word "slave." What do you think of the decision to change the novel?

ALL

WHITES

BLAKS

Good idea.14%

Bad idea.64... 68 46

Don't know how I feel about it.19 18 25

When you see an obese child, whom or what * do you blame most?

Parents.71%

Fast-food restaurants. 5

Video games. 5

The school system. 2

The child. 1

It's beyond anyone's control.12

President Obama has relaxed restrictions on travel to Cuba for U.S. citizens. How interested would you be in visiting Cuba?

ALL

REPS

DEMS

INDS

Very.14%... 5%

Somewhat.1 8.16... 2 16

Not very.17.15... 19 16

Not at all.51.64... 43 49

In some states there are laws against being drunk in public. Do you think there should or should not be laws against doing any of the following in public?

YES

NO

Breast-feeding . . 17%... 80%

Spanking a child . .29.67

Smoking a cigar. .30.66

Cursing . .35.62

If a loved one had an illness for which medical marijuana might be prescribed, would you support or oppose that use?

* ** ** #

Support.77% 74% ....82%.63%

Oppose.1 8... 10 22.15.31

Which one of the following, if any, should be made a federal holiday?

►vV ** **

Election Day 37% ....48% ....43% ....32%.23%

Random day 22.17.17.29.24

Day after Super Bowl 8.. .11.. .11.. 6. 2

Cinco de Mayo 5.. . 8.. . 7.. 3. 1

Day after Saint Patrick's Day 2.. 4.. 1. 1. 3

None of the above.22 .10.. .18. .26. ..39

In which one of the following industries would you least like to invest your money?

ALL

REPS

DEMS

INDS

Tobacco 54%...56%... 62%....48%

Newspaper.23.25.17.26

Real estate. 9. 7.10.11

Music. 5. 5. 5. 6

Automobile. 4. 5. 3. 5

To the best of your knowledge, where is Tunisia?

ALL

HIGH SCHOOL OR LESS

SOME COLLEGE OR MORE

Africa.57% ...43% ...67%

South America 8. 8. 7

South Pacific 8. 7. 8

Caribbean. 5. 8. 2

Australia. 2. 4. 1

Don't know.21.30.14

If the U.S. had no state secrets and all government information were made public, do you think the country would be more vulnerable to its enemies or stronger because of its openness?

ALL REPS DEMS INDS

More vulnerable.72%...80%...67%....70%

Stronger.23.17.27.24

What would be the ideal age for you to retire: 50, 55, 60, 65, or 70, or don't you intend to retire?

50

55 16

60 23

65 22

70 6

Don't intend to retire

Already retired 10