The Mother Jones Poll Results

There were more than 300 respondents to last week’s poll. Here’s what they had to say. Be sure to participate in our latest poll. Also, check out the <a href="/news/feature/1996/10/poll_archive.html">results</a> of our previous polls.

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1. The first presidential debate is Sunday, October 6. But if another round of soundbites and plastic smiles leaves you reaching for the remote, the MoJo Wire has picked out some of the evening’s highlights. What will you be watching?

40% The Debate

10% Baseball

10% (no answer)

10% Bullwinkle

9% Ancient Mysteries

8% Ren & Stimpy

2. Who is your favorite choice to moderate the debates?

23% Jim Lehrer

15% Cokie Roberts

12% Kelsey Grammer

7% (no answer)

5% Katie Couric

Our favorite write-ins:

Wink Martindale

Big Bird

RuPaul

Hunter S. Thompson

Jello Biafra

3. If all these candidates had an equal chance of winning, who would you vote for?

37% Harry Browne

32% Ralph Nader

19% Bill Clinton

5% Bob Dole

2% John Hagelin

2% Ross Perot

1% (no answer)

0.7% Lyndon LaRouche

0.3% Howard Phillips

4. If you were restricted to just these two candidates, which one would you vote for?

59% Bill Clinton

26% No answer

15% Bob Dole

5. What’s your favorite reason why Perot should or shouldn’t be included in the debate?

Our favorite responses for:

“USA should be reminded that even an idiot can become a billionaire.”

“He should, but only if he’s included in the calf-roping competition.”

“Someone should represent Disney.”

And against:

“His ears remind me of Ferengi sexual organs and shouldn’t be shown on prime time TV.”

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AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

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