Classic Rant #92 (September 21, 2009): I Choose You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

I often wonder how things get into my email mailbox. I have two boxes, one at home and one at work, and sometimes, I get the strangest emails sent to me. Yes, I get spam too, but one email that I recently received, and that I had no idea that I was going to receive, tickled my interest.

Zogby International is a public opinion poll tracker, and their latest poll, which was conducted Sept. 10-14, was very interesting. Based on its research, it has found that Americans like Paul McCartney as their favorite Beatle (27 percent), followed by John Lennon (16 percent), George Harrison (10 percent) and Ringo Starr (9 percent.

Also, 22 percent of those responding to the company’s Zogby Interactive Poll reported that they don’t like the Beatles and 3 percent said that they were not familiar enough with the Beatles to render an opinion.

First, I thought it was very interesting that the pollster conducted this poll during the latest incarnation of Beatlemania, which is being driven by the release of the Beatles Rockband video game and the re-release of the band’s newly remastered LP catalog.

Second, who would have thought that 45 years later, the foursome would be so indelibly etched in our consciousness that such a poll could even exist?

Other interesting poll results show that Democrats (25 percent) are far more likely than Republicans (6 percent) and Independents (15 percent) to say John is their favorite Beatle, while moderates (32 percent) prefer Paul. Liberals (14 percent) are more likely than moderates (7 percent) and conservatives (9 percent) to choose George as their fave moptop.

I don’t know how the individual Beatles would feel about this. They haven’t been together as “The Beatles” since 1970, yet people still identify them with their former band. They each had wide-ranging and successful solo careers, but I guess once you are a Beatle, you are always a Beatle.

I consider myself an Independent, as a don’t belong to a party but I do exercise my right to vote … and usually split my vote between the major parties. With that in mind, my favorite Beatle is … well it has always been Ringo, even when I was a kid and didn’t know a conservative from a liberal.

I guess this poll proves that “Yesterday” is always today, at least when talking about those four lads from Liverpool.

This is only a sampling of the survey. To learn more, go to http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.cfm?ID=1744 for more information.