When Americans gather around their dining tables this Thursday to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, the overwhelming majority will have the traditional centerpiece to their meals: turkey. Eighty-one percent (81%) say turkey is tops on their Thanksgiving menus. Ham comes in a distant second with 6% of respondents.

The traditional meal is the capstone to a day on which 85% of Americans say they have reason to give thanks. Nine percent (9%) report no compelling reasons to be thankful. And in spite of the outcome of the 2006 mid-term elections, Republicans (92%) are a bit more likely to be thankful this year than Democrats (83%).

Forty-six percent (46%) rate Thanksgiving as one of our most important national holidays. Six percent (6%) say it is one of the least important while 43% rate it somewhere in between.

Forty-two percent (42%) will enjoy their Thanksgiving meals at home and 41% will do so at a relative’s home. Eight percent (8%) say they’ll share their feast with friends and 5% will skip cooking and visiting all together by dining at a restaurant.

Thanksgiving is a holiday with ample opportunities for calorie overload and 47% say they’ll probably eat too much at their holiday tables. Forty-two percent (42%) say they won’t overindulge. Ten points separate the percentages of men who say they will over do it (50%) and those who will not (40%). Women are evenly divided on this question (44%).

Football—another Thanksgiving tradition—will be enjoyed by half (50%) of our respondents. Sixty-one percent (61%) of men say watching football figures in to their Thanksgiving plans, compared with 40% of women.

Only 12% say they will attend a Thanksgiving parade as part of their holiday observances. Eighty percent (80%) will not.

Regardless of how they plan to fill their day, a majority of our respondents will enjoy Thanksgiving as a day of rest. Only 12% say they will have to work on the holiday; 81% will enjoy a work-free day.

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