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March 16, 2005
Poll: Santos leads Vinick to succeed President Bartlet
Newsday
UTICA, N.Y. -- Forget Clinton vs. McCain. In the race to occupy "The West Wing," Matt Santos is a lock to beat Arnie Vinick.
Pollster John Zogby, who often asks Americans who they think will be elected the real president, wasn't interested in Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton's chances against Republican John McCain in 2008. He had other candidates in mind _ those running to replace Democratic incumbent Josiah Bartlet on NBC-TV's "The West Wing."
The Zogby International poll found Democratic Rep. Matthew Santos of Texas (played by Jimmy Smits) leading Republican Sen. Arnold Vinick of California (played by Alan Alda), 44 percent to 28 percent, among West Wing viewers contacted by computer for the interactive poll.
Vinick, it seems, has a gender gap problem.
"While he and Santos are tied among men, each getting 35 percent of the vote, Santos holds a commanding lead among women, where he outpolls Vinick by 53 percent to 22 percent," Zogby said.
There is a serious side to the poll, Zogby said.
"There are three nerve centers in this country. There's New York, which is money; Washington, which is power; and Hollywood, which is culture," he said. "We already do New York and Washington."
The interactive computer poll was conducted Feb. 18-25 and the results were based on the answers of 5,505 American adults nationwide who said they were viewers of the hit show. The poll has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 0.7 percentage points.
Posted by Jo at March 16, 2005 09:07 AM