Just in! Public Policy Polling shows Santa Claus to be a Democrat!

Recently on facebook, a heated but brief discussion broke out over was Santa Claus a conservative / capitalist or a liberal / socialist, on the basis that he handed out presents.  Those who favored conservative / capitalist posited that because he supposedly only gave presents to good little girls and boys, but only gave a lump of coal to bad children, he was a conservative / capitalist who rewarded good conduct and effort.  I don't actually believe that this fictional character HAS such an affiliation or can properly be assigned one, but for the fun of it, I took the contrarian view that Santa was more of a socialist, because he gave presents (at least in theory) to both rich and poor children, and that there really was no such thing as 'bad children', because children could be naughty, for a variety of reasons, but were not evil, and that even the most well behaved children had their bad moments.  There was also an exchange where I argued that Christmas presents should not equate to adult compensation and that deliberate deprivation was a poor incentive for children, compared to other methods of discipline.   But that was probably too serious a direction to go on such a fluff subject.

On a more pragmatic note, I always believe in the premise of saving up a few topics for the holidays, to bridge those moments requiring a change of topic, or to fill an uncomfortable or awkward pause in conversation.  I would suggest to our readers that you stash this away in some mental pocket as one of those.  Enjoy!

From MSN.com:

Is Santa Claus a Republican or a Democrat?

 

Not only does Santa have political affiliations, according to a new poll, but he has to worry about the fiscal cliff like everyone else.

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Pole residents can't vote in U.S. elections — and neither can mythical beings. But if they could, Americans believe Santa Claus would pull the lever for the Democratic Party.
A new Public Policy Polling survey found that 44 percent of respondents think Santa is a Democrat, while 28 percent believe he's a Republican.
Santa is nonpartisan when it comes to leaving Christmas gifts. Of the 500 people polled, 63 percent of respondents said Mitt Romney would get presents from Santa instead of a lump of coal, while President Barack Obama just barely made it onto the "nice" list by a margin of 51 percent to 49 percent.
People also believe St. Nick isn't immune to the looming fiscal cliff. Fifty-four percent of respondents said the combination of tax increases and massive government spending cuts would force Santa to cut back on benefits at his North Pole workshop.