No bah humbug for D.C. region

Darci Marchese, wtop.com

WASHINGTON — Are you in the holiday spirit? Turns out many of us are.

The holiday spirit is alive and well in our area, according to a new WTOP Beltway Poll.

Eighty-nine percent of area residents polled say they will be celebrating Christmas, 8 percent say they will celebrate Hanukah and 3 percent say they will celebrate Kwanzaa.

An overwhelming 74 percent say they will display a Christmas tree.

What about ole Saint Nick? Many children are confident Santa Claus will deliver them presents on Christmas morning.

Of those with kids under 9 years of age, 80 percent say their kids are believers. Of those with children 9 to 12 years of age, 41 percent say they believe. And yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

Many adults are believers, too. Among D.C. metro adults, 51 percent say they believe in Santa and the magic of Christmas.

Party affiliation is a major factor: 58 percent of Republicans believe versus 47 percent of Democrats.

And how true is the saying it’s better to give than to receive? Apparently it’s pretty true in our area.

The poll finds that an overwhelming 91 percent of people prefer to give. Only 6 percent prefer receiving. Three percent didn’t know or wouldn’t answer.

The margin of error for a sample of this size is +/- 3.8 at 95 percent confidence.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The D.C. metro phone survey was conducted among 643 adults age 18+ and between Dec. 5-8. This included representative samples of 241 in Virginia (Arlington, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Spotsylvania, Stafford), 300 in Maryland (Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, Prince Georges) and 102 in the District.

Heart+Mind Strategies, a non-partisan market research consultancy based in Reston, VA, conducted the polls.

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(Copyright 2011 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)

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