Amusing poll numbers

Having covered politics before, I think polls are simplistic and grossly abused by the mainstream press. But they do contain some fun nuggets every so often.

This online poll was conducted to see how young people will vote in the next election. This poll suggests 88 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds intend to vote in the coming election and 70 percent identify with a political party. Sadly, you would not see those kind of numbers in the States.

But here's the funny part from the poll:

If the federal election were held today. . .
35% -- Percentage of young adult fans of rapper 50 Cent who would vote Liberal.
31% -- Percentage of young listeners of country singer Toby Keith who would vote Conservative.
28% -- Percentage of young admirers of pop singer Gwen Stefani who would vote NDP.

Of the three, I would vote for Gwen Stefani. Of course, that decision would depend on which artist represented the Bloc Quebecois or the Green Party.

The poll, commissioned by the Dominion Institute along with the Innovative Research Group, was completed online by a representative sample of 2,517 people drawn from a database of young Canadians who agree to take part in surveys. Results are considered accurate to within plus or minus two percentage points, 19 times out of 20.