White House creates Facebook poll to pick Thanksgiving turkey

The White House announced Tuesday that the American public could vote for the first time on which turkey will be pardoned at the traditional National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation, creating a Facebook poll where users can lodge their vote.

Users are presented with a choice between Cobbler and Gobbler, two turkeys from a farm near Harrisonburg, Va.

"Born on the same day on a farm in Rockingham Country, Va., Cobbler and Gobbler may look alike, but they're no birds of a feather," the White House said in a statement. "Cobbler craves cranberries, is known for his strut, and enjoys the musical stylings of Carly Simon. Gobbler, a patient but proud bird, loves to nibble on corn and enjoys any music with a fiddle."

Users can vote for their favorite by "liking" a graphic about the bird on the social networking site.

The turkey pardon is a Thanksgiving tradition that harkens back to Abraham Lincoln, who, according to legend, wrote out a presidential pardon for a turkey at the insistence of his son, Tad Lincoln.

Presidents Kennedy and Nixon also made a point of returning turkeys presented to the White House to either their original farms or local petting zoos, and President George H.W. Bush became the first president to formally announce the turkey pardon during the 1989 turkey presentation.

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