Hoover, Fonda References Baffling Voters

Mention the name Hoover to most Americans and they think you are talking about either a vacuum cleaner, the late FBI chief or a big dam.

When Democrats dredge up memories of President Herbert Hoover, the Great Depression and the 1929 stock market crash, barely 7 percent responding to a National Annenberg Election Survey knew what they were talking about.

And when Republicans try to score points with patriotic voters by linking Sen. John Kerry with his fellow anti-Vietnam War comrade Jane Fonda, hardly any among those polled had any idea of what they were talking about.

To 20 percent of them, Jane Fonda is just an actress, another 9 percent tie her to exercise videos, and 2 percent link her to either father Henry Fonda or ex-husband Ted Turner, the Chicago Tribune reported, adding that another 11 percent give other answers.

When survey respondents were asked "Just your best guess, what was Herbert Hoover known for?" fewer than 7 percent tied Hoover to the Great Depression, the 1929 stock market crash or job losses - the parallel with President Bush that John Kerry keeps attempting to draw.

Thirty-seven percent cited Hoover as a former president, 12 percent confused him with the late FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and another 4 percent connected Hoover to the dam on the Colorado River that bears his name.

Three percent identified Hoover with the popular vacuum cleaner.

Twenty-nine percent of those surveyed had no answer at all when asked about Hoover, while 17 percent had no answer when asked about Fonda.

According to the Tribune, the poll surveyed 634 people by telephone between March 1 and March 15.

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