Gallup: Conservatives Extremely Proud to Be American (Liberals Not So Much)

On the 237th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence,  Gallup published a poll revealing how Americans feel about being an American. Overall about 85% of us are extremely or very proud to be an American a number that has been creeping up slowly since 2007. This show's the resiliency of our patriotism, when one considers the state of the economy over the last six years and the fact that we have had an administration that   "puts down" this country almost as much as it praises America.

Perhaps the most interesting (but not surprising) part of these numbers is the split between young and old Americans and those who view themselves as conservative politically, versus those who view themselves as liberal.


Although the difference in age groups are small it is interesting that the least proud are the aged 30-49 group. It is heartening to see that the younger 18-29 group is more proud than their most immediate predecessors.

The difference between conservatives and liberals is a large 13% gap. There may be a few reasons for this difference.  Liberals tend to look at the US as part of one world system. A great example of this is their strong support of the global warming hoax which is really about global re-distribution of income. Their view of big government skews toward big worldwide government, while conservatives look and individual independence and national independence.  Under these conditions it make sense that the liberals are not as proud, after all even today after six years of progressive governance, this country is operating as an individual unit instead of part of one world government (thank God).

Another question asked also shows the difference in political mindset.  Gallup questioned whether people think our founders would be pleased by the way the country has turned out.

Interestingly by a a very wide margin 71%-27% most believe that the signers of the Declaration of Independence  would not be happy and that number has grown significantly since 2003.

 Again there is a major difference in age and political leanings. Older Americans (aged 65+) are much less likely to believe that America's founders would be happy with the way the country is today.

Politically, the more conservative one tends to be the more they believe the founders would be not be please with the way America is today. Only 15% of conservatives, 29% of independents and 41% of liberals believe the signers of the Declaration of Independence would be happy with the way the country is today.

Americans are now much less likely than they were ten years ago to say the signers of the Declaration of Independence would be pleased with how the country has turned out.  This is an indication people do ont believe that the "Big Government" Policies which began to accelerate during the George W Bush years and grew exponentially since Obama took over are in line with the the country our founders created.

The growth of the not please number seems to be driven by conservatives whose beliefs are closer to the Founders ideology and the Constitution, than those of the liberal groups.

These numbers should teach the GOP leadership that their rejection of tea party activists and conservative candidates is not in line with the party base nor is it in line with independents.  It is time for them to embrace conservative principals if they want to win elections.