Seriously? Only 41%?!
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I know many of my fellow Zoners have had the experience of mentioning that you are a Stephen Colbert fan to another person only to get the reaction of, “Who?” It truly is mind bloggling to me when that happens. I mean, come on, he’s been on the cover of Sports Illustrated, for Bob’s sake!
But it’s a little on the funny (weird, not haha) side to see the statistic in an actual poll, done by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. According to NPR.com:
Only 26% of the 1,003 adults surveyed this month by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press knew it takes 60 votes to break a filibuster in the Senate — even though that 60-vote “super majority” figure has been written and talked about endlessly in the news media in the past year as Democrats neared it, reached it and then lost it.
But 41% correctly identified Stephen Colbert as “a comedian and TV talk show host.”
Of course, Stephen will probably be obsessed by the 59% who couldn’t ID him.
And NPR didn’t even mention the funniest part – 7% of the people polled thought that Stephen Colbert was a member of Congress! Must be all the snazzy suits and the gorgeous mane of hair.
EDIT:
Zoner dustdevil reminded me that Stephen is, in fact, a hip hop artist, as seen in this “Stephen Colbert’s Hiphopketball: A Jazzebration” video. (Best Hip Line Ever: “Swish Mother F**ker, now listen to me blow!”)
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11 Comments
January 28th, 2010 at 3:29 pm
I love polls and stats. This is just too funny! I wear my WristStrong bracelet all the time, and have only had four people know what it is and ask about it.
It really is shameful. Wake up, people! The 1% who thought he was a Congressman – bwah!
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January 28th, 2010 at 3:35 pm
Not quite – 7% thought he was a congressman. 1% thought he was an Olympic athlete. Which is actually funner than the 7% who thought he was a congressman if you think about it.
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January 28th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
While I do find it hilarious that 7% thought Stephen was a congressman and 1% thought he was an Olympic athlete (WTF?! LOL!) I find it very sad that only 26% knew it takes 60 votes to break a fillibuster. It really shouldn’t shock me, but it does. *sigh*
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January 28th, 2010 at 6:19 pm
I’m not surprised only 41% know who he is. I feel like I have mentioned him to a lot of people and more often than not people don’t know who I am talking about. Crazy huh?
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January 28th, 2010 at 6:48 pm
I’m inclined to think that the 7% who said “congressman” and the 1% who said “Olympic athlete” are probably Colber superfans, who gave those answers with the express hope that it would show up on the poll, and then be mentioned on the Report. I know I would have probably answered “HipHop Artist”, since “Hiphopketball, a Jazzebration” is my favorite album.
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January 29th, 2010 at 10:38 am
I’m a fan of: The Re-Jazzebration, Remix ‘06! :)
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January 28th, 2010 at 7:56 pm
That’s just about what I expect from the population re: Colbert. The older generations are less likely to know who Colbert is, or if they have heard of him confuse him with another profession.
I have to agree with Michele that I find the filibuster question more disturbing. The fact that 25% thought that it took only 51 votes to end a filibuster and 37% either refused or didn’t know says a lot about the level of knowledge of our political system. According to this poll 62% of people don’t understand why the Senate is so dysfunctional.
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January 28th, 2010 at 8:19 pm
Hahaha! Clearly, he’s associated with the Olympics in people’s minds, so they’ve…heard of him? Sigh. Kind of sad. I wear my WristStrong every single day but no one has asked about it!
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January 28th, 2010 at 8:55 pm
I just love that he was on this poll at all. Every single other question is related to government, business, etc. You know, serious things. And we all know the effect Stephen can have on those areas in real life, but I can only imagine the confusion of someone taking that poll who recognizes the name but is not quite such a dedicated fan.
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January 28th, 2010 at 11:32 pm
I got 11 out of 12 right…yay~ there is academic achievement after college! Thanks poll!! I missed the Dow Jones Average because I couldn’t care less what that number is – I hope he talks about this on the show. :)
recaptcha: effect hodgeman
AWESOME!
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January 29th, 2010 at 10:25 am
Didn’t Colbert send Kareem Abdul-Jabbar out in search of Hitler’s Gold? I’ll never forget that…
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