海角大神

Republicans and Democrats disagree about lots of things. But here鈥檚 something on which voters from both sides of the political divide can unite: dislike of the Dallas Cowboys.

It鈥檚 true. We are not making this up. According to a new Public Policy Polling survey, 61 percent of Republicans, 57 percent of Democrats, and 63 percent of independents answer with a resounding 鈥渘o鈥� when asked whether the Dallas Cowboys are, in fact, 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Team."

鈥淚n a time of unprecedented division there鈥檚 one thing Americans agree on across-the-board,鈥� said Dean Debnam, PPP president, in a statement. 鈥淭he Cowboys aren鈥檛 America鈥檚 team 鈥� in fact, they鈥檙e America鈥檚 least favorite team.鈥�

A plurality of 23 percent of Americans picks the Cowboys as their least favorite NFL franchise, according to PPP. Democrats are slightly more likely than Republicans to rate the 'Boys "least fave," but the margin is slight.

Given the depth of partisan wrangling, it鈥檚 perhaps heartening to see something on which Speaker John Boehner (R) of Ohio and President Obama could safely shake hands. (OK, it鈥檚 probably not heartening if you鈥檙e from Dallas. Don鈥檛 send me hate mail 鈥� I鈥檓 just reporting the facts.) It鈥檚 also indicative of the binding power of sports in an age in which audiences increasingly fragment into political and entertainment niches.

Voters from both parties generally go for the Denver Broncos as today鈥檚 most popular NFL team, for example. PPP notes this is driven to some extent by the popularity of quarterback Peyton Manning, a Hall of Fame player and accomplished ad pitchman. It鈥檚 also reflective of the fact that Democrats and Republicans alike go for winners. The Broncos are good this year, so they rate high. In 2011, the then-undefeated Green Bay Packers rated at the top of PPP鈥檚 favorite rankings.

Asked to rate quarterbacks, Republicans and Democrats generally come up with the same list. Peyton Manning is on top, with around 22 percent of respondents picking him as their favorite QB. Tom Brady of the New England Patriots and Robert Griffin III of the Washington Redskins tie for second at 13 percent.

But never underestimate the ability of journalists to dive into the numbers and find controversy in the cross-tabs. After perusing the PPP poll, we found a couple of places where Republicans and Democrats, in fact, seem to have statistically significant differences over the NFL.

One of them is Tim Tebow. The ex-Jet benchsitter seems significantly more popular in the GOP. He鈥檚 rated favorably by 68 percent of Republican respondents. Among Democrats, only 39 percent rate him favorably, however.

That鈥檚 the biggest partisan split among any of the nine quarterbacks PPP asked voters to rate. Most likely it鈥檚 due to Mr. Tebow鈥檚 well-known evangelical 海角大神ity.

Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints also polls significantly better among Republicans. He got a 52 percent favorable rating from GOP respondents and only 38 percent from Democrats. The reason for that is ... we have no idea what the reason for that is. Anyone? Actually, in general it looks like Republicans rate most individual quarterbacks at least a bit more favorably than Democrats do. If we were a pundit, we鈥檇 say that was due to the GOP focus on individuality, as opposed to the Democratic focus on collective responsibility.

Not that we鈥檇 really know.

Lastly, there鈥檚 the Chicago Bears. Fourteen percent of respondents who said they voted for President Obama in 2012 ranked 鈥渄a Bears鈥� their favorite team. But only six percent of Mitt Romney voters polled said the same thing.

Is it a coincidence that Obama is from Chicago and roots for the Bears? We think not.