Red, white and boo.
Less than one in five Democratic voters said they are proud to be American in a recent poll ahead of America’s 250th birthday next month — compared to more than two-thirds of their Republican counterparts.
Those surveyed were asked what term best described how they felt when they thought about the United States marking its semiquincentennial anniversary, and Dems had almost nothing good to say.
Just 18% of self-described Democrats said they felt “Proud” and only 17% felt “Grateful,” according to polling conducted by Elon University and published on Tuesday.
A bigger number of Democrats (21%) said they felt “Conflicted” about America, 15% “Disappointed,” 6% “Frustrated,” and nearly a quarter (24%) had “No strong feelings,” the survey showed.
That contrasted strongly with self-described Republican voters, of whom 68% said they felt “Proud” and 19% felt “Grateful.”
Just 1% of Republicans felt “Disappointed,” about America, 1% felt “Frustrated,” and 9% had “No strong feelings.”
Democrats were also less than half as likely as their Republican counterparts to express enthusiasm in attending an event related to America’s 250th anniversary this July 4.
Just 11% of Democrats said they were “Very likely” to personally participate in events or activities related to this year’s semiquincentennial, while less than a quarter (21%) said they were “Somewhat likely” to take part in the celebrations.
That compared to 28% of Republicans who said they were “Very likely” to attend an event, and 36% who said they were “Somewhat likely” to go.
Over a quarter of Democrats (28%) said they were “Not very likely” to attend anniversary events, 34% answered “Not at all likely,” and 6% said they were “Not sure” they would go to any celebrations.
Only 18% of Republicans said they were “Not very likely” to go to any events, 11% said “Not at all likely,” and 8% answered, “Not sure.”
Democrats were also more gloomy about the prospect of the 250th anniversary bringing the nation together.
When asked, “Do you think the 250th anniversary will be more likely to bring Americans together or to deepen divisions?” only 22% of Democrats said it would “Bring people together.”
Almost a quarter (24%) of Democrats said the events would “Deepen divisions,” and 54% said they would “Have little effect.”
In contrast, just 8% of Republicans felt they would “Deepen divisions,” while 35% said they would “Have little effect.”
Democrats and Republicans could find some common ground when it came to the nature of the America 250 commemorations they would prefer.
A whopping 77% of Democrats and 61% of Republicans answered that “Smaller, local events” would feel “more authentic” to them, while only 23% of Dems and 39% of Republicans would opt for “Larger, national events.”
“As the United States approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Americans have complex and diverse feelings about America 250,” said Jason Husser, director of the Elon University Poll and a professor of political science and public policy.
“We found several points of optimism among Americans, including pride in being American and belief that the United States has a uniquely important role to play in world history,” Husser went on.
“At the same time, many Americans expressed significant concern about the health of American democracy today, and the country is split on its outlook over the next 50 years.”
