Mini Poll Archive: 2008

What should the city's collective resolution be for 2009?

On which of Santa's lists is your name more likely to appear this year?

Why don't more of us read these days? Is it the Internet? Television? A failure of the schools to inspire a love of reading?

"...it'll be the corporations that name everything, the IBM Stellar Sphere, the Microsoft Galaxy, Planet Starbucks."

Do you, or does anyone in your house, own a handgun?

Thanksgiving is a time for taking stock: counting blessings, family members, friends, drumsticks, marching bands, and - much less often - calories.

Have you ever participated in a public protest or rally? In general, do you think the purpose of most protests these days is "attention" or "change"?

Is there a broken street light on your block? Do you think the traffic light at the corner of Natural Bridge and Kingshighway should be timed differently?

When is the most recent time you called someone a derogatory name out loud, whether they could hear it or not?

Vote in this poll, and vote again for keeps on Tuesday, November 4, 2008.

This week we're asking you take a look at some of the most hotly contested issues on ballots in other states.

Your choices on this week's Mini-Poll may be a useful predictor on how these questions are going to do locally on November 4, 2008. Or they may not be.

Do you think most people generally tell the truth to political pollsters?

A recent published study of 400 American cities called St. Louis one of the country's "gay-friendliest places to live." Do you think that description is accurate?

How great an importance do you place on your having daily access to a locally written printed newspaper?

This week, MayorSlay.com offers up an example of a newer tool: tagging.

Do you think St. Louis county voters will support Metro's sales tax increase in November? Are education choices in the City really getting better? What's up with you and the cops? Would you rather learn French or Mandarin Chinese?

Do you think that the St. Louis region should put in a bid to land either the Democratic or Republican national convention in 2012?

Would you support a City ordinance outlawing most plastic checkout bags at large supermarkets and chain pharmacies, like the one recently passed in San Francisco?

Do you think that the impending purchase of Anheuser Busch by InBev will make A-B products less popular in St. Louis?

Do you think that St. Louis should spend the estimated $40 - $50 million it would likely cost to prepare a bid to host the Summer Olympics here in 2020?

Do you think that bricks and other surviving decorative elements of decayed or dangerous buildings that need to be demolished should be salvaged by the City?

Do you think that the theft of metals - like copper pipes and wiring, sewer lids, air conditioners, or automobile catalytic converters - is a problem in your neighborhood?

In general, how do you view pawn shops? Have you ever been inside a pawn shop?

Are you generally more focused these days on your own physical fitness or your financial fitness?

Which St Louis companies do you consider to be the best managed?

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How often do you go out? Do you think there are more places to go in the City at night than there were five years ago?

Regardless of whether you own any stock yourself, do you think now is a good time to buy stock?

Mayor Slay says: "the national election will be decided in St. Louis and St. Louis county, because we have the votes that will swing the most important swing state." Do you agree?

Are you ready for swimsuit season?

Do you believe that listening to some sorts of classical music can make you smarter?

Are City residents more fun to date than county residents? Who picked the restaurant on your most recent dinner date?

Do you think that relations between blacks and whites will always be a problem for the United States, or that a solution will eventually be worked out?

With controversial line items in the municipal budget making news this week, MayorSlay.com is once again going to let you try your hand at building the annual municipal budget.

What is the financial situation in your own household right now? Do you think the national economy will be better in a year?

If Pope Benedict came to St. Louis, would you come out to watch the motorcade or attend one of the rallies?

Does it matter to you what people think of what you do for a living? Which occupations do you hold in the highest regard?

In general, what letter grade would you give the school choices parents have for their children in the City of St. Louis? Do you want the St. Louis public school district to open more charter schools?

Do you think the voters in this country are ready to elect a qualified person over age seventy as president? A woman? An African American?

Would you do volunteer work in the community if your employer gave you paid time off to do it? What do you think is the most important reason people volunteer their time?

What do you think are the most underrated aspects of living and working in the City of St. Louis?

Our first Unremittingly Negative Mini-Poll. Think of it as an opportunity to exorcise your innate St. Louis cynicism.

Do you shop downtown, in your own neighborhood, during lunch, or on Saturdays? What stores could the City attract that would make your life easier, better, more fun, or more economical?

Most of us at MayorSlay.com believe that St. Louis holds pride of place as the birthplace of the hamburger. What do you think about St. Louis' favorite sandwich?

Do you think Missouri should join Illinois and 20 or so other states to ban smoking in public places, or do you think that Missourians are smart enough to figure it out themselves?

How do you feel about the spread of commercial gambling? Have you ever been to a local casino? Or, are you someone who feels that gambling is a vice you'd best avoid?

Valentine's Day is here again and, with it, insecurity for many us. How do you feel about Valentine's Day? Has it been one of your favorites ever since elementary school, or do you hide in your office cube while florists' deliveries are made to your office mates.

On February 5, St. Louisans on both sides of the Mississippi River will have their chance to pick which of the Donkeys and Elephants will most likely sit in the Oval Office in January of 2009. Who will you support, and what factors you are most likely to be considering as you vote.

Thirty-one separate zoned Suburban Journals editions are distributed free to nearly 660,000 households in the metro area. Are the Suburban Journals a newspaper that you rush to read, do you completely ignore them?

How likely are you to base your vote in November on a candidate's views on immigration? Would you be willing to carry a national ID card? Do you think St. Louis should be handling immigration matters differently?

How did you prepare for the Highway 40/I-64 shutdown -- and how you are coping. Are you taking advantage of Happy Hours, flex time, and the chance to learn Chinese while you are sitting in your car on Page Avenue?

One of the most popular features on MayorSlay.com is Mayor Francis Slay's annual predictions. Do you agree with the mayor? Do you have your own pet predictions? Do you even believe in predictions, and if so, which ones?