Barbecue Guest: McCain or Obama?

The results are in: "Obama beats McCain as barbecue guest"

People would rather barbecue burgers with Barack Obama than with John McCain.

While many are still deciding who should be president, by 52 percent to 45 percent they would prefer having Obama than McCain to their summer cookout, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo News poll released Wednesday.

Men are about evenly divided between the two while women prefer Obama by 11 percentage points. Whites prefer McCain, minorities Obama. And Obama is a more popular guest with younger voters while McCain does best with the oldest.

Having Obama to a barbecue would be like a relaxed family gathering, while inviting McCain "would be more like a retirement party than something fun," said Wesley Welbourne, 38, a systems engineer from Washington, D.C.

..."John and I would probably have a lot to talk about," said Republican Michael Mullen, 53, of Merrimac, Mass., like McCain a Navy veteran.

One in six people saying they'd vote for McCain prefer Obama as their barbecue guest; just one in 20 Obama backers would invite McCain.

It's interesting that one in six people supporting McCain would like to have Obama as their guest while only one in twenty Obama supporters would welcome McCain.

I guess the Obama supporters aren't really about unity. It could be that they are so agog for Obama that they would jump at the chance to be in his presence and maybe touch his robes in between burgers.

It's a tough call for me. I think McCain would be a good guest. I like his sense of humor.

But in a way, I'd be more interested in spending barbecue time with Obama. There's a lot I'd like to discuss with him.

I'd like to know how he could have been so blind when it comes to his 20-year infatuation with Rev. Jeremiah Wright. I'd like to know how he can respect someone like William Ayers. I'd ask him why he keeps trying to deceive people by reiterating the lie about John McCain and 100 years in Iraq. I'd ask him if he thinks of me as a "typical white woman."

Mainly, I'd like to see Obama up close in an unscripted situation. What's he like? Is he aloof and arrogant? Awkward? Brooding? Is he relaxed and down to earth? Would he kick back and laugh? How would he respond if the heat got to me and I felt faint?

Will the real Obama please stand up?

At the very least, I'd be interested to know if he would wear his American flag pin to a barbecue.