Dem
47
GOP
53
All right, let's finish with a palate cleanser. At the moment, pollsters are looking under rocks for things to poll for, since you can only poll hypothetical matchups, and the question of whether Kamala Harris makes you feel "mellifluous" or "lugubrious," so much. And so there was a fairly substantial poll released this weekend in which respondents were asked about... the portraits on U.S. currency.
(As a sidebar, during the recent weekend we went dark, Z was in Las Vegas because the UCLA women's basketball team was playing for the national title. He is not much of a bettor on such trips, preferring instead the Vegas restaurant scene, shows, and museums/attractions. However, he did wager $40 on the Bruins, and they got blown out. So, bye-bye $40. The next day, annoyed by the loss, he decided to go double-or-nothing on the slot machines at the same casino, and to keep playing until $40 had been won, or another $40 had been lost. He searched for a slot machine that was thematically appealing, and chose one based on animated versions of U.S. dollars, where the presidents spin and dance around and the like. He put $20 in the machine, and began play at $1.60 a pull. After the first three pulls, having spent $4.80, and having won a little of that back on each pull, there was $17.76 left in the machine. That seemed an auspicious number for a machine that heavily features George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. And indeed, on the next pull, Z won the right to play the mini-game, which is a feature that nearly every slot has these days. In the mini-game, Z got five Lincolns, and won $180, thus ended the gambling, as $180 is more than $40. As that was the only gambling Z did, that means he walked away that weekend up $140.)
That story has nothing to do with this item, other than it just so happens to involve the same basic subject as the new poll. In any case, the results suggest some interesting things about Americans' views of history and of historical iconography. And we're going to give readers a chance to see how well they have their fingers on the pulse of American historical thinking with an 8-question quiz based on the poll. Here are the questions:
1. Of these figures who currently appear on U.S. currency, which is MOST popular?
a. Lady Liberty
b. Abraham Lincoln
2. Of these figures who currently appear on U.S. currency, which is LEAST popular?
a. Andrew Jackson
b. Ulysses S. Grant
3. If the mint was going to add another president to the mix, who would Americans prefer?
a. Theodore Roosevelt
b. Ronald Reagan
4. If the mint was going to add a non-president to the mix, who would Americans MOST like to see?
a. Martin Luther King Jr.
b. Paul Revere
5. If the mint was going to add a non-president to the mix, who would Americans LEAST like to see?
a. Johnny Appleseed
b. Marilyn Monroe
6. Who is a more popular choice to be added to U.S. currency?
a. Elvis Presley
b. Malcolm X
7. What percentage of Americans would like to see Harriet Tubman on U.S. currency?
a. More than 40%
b. Less than 40%
8. What percentage of Americans would like to see Robert E. Lee on U.S. currency?
a. More than 40%
b. Less than 40%
Tiebreaker: In the 72 hours after Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) was successful in imposing a "bathroom ban" on trans colleague Sarah McBride (D-DE), how many tweets did Mace send out about the ban?
If you'd like to register your guesses, the link is here. Next Tuesday, we will give the answers to the questions, along with congratulations to the reader or readers who got the best score. We'll also give a link to the actual poll, and some thoughts about what insights might be gained. Oh, and the tiebreaker question has nothing to do with U.S. money, but it does have to do with a different item that we're also planning for next Tuesday. (Z)