Fox News: Republicans Most Patriotic This July 4th

According to a new Fox News poll, Republicans are feeling especially patriotic this July 4th. Two thirds of Republicans surveyed said that they are more patriotic than the average American, and that they are even more proud of being an American than they were this time last year.

Proud Republicans would rather live in the US than in any other country in the world

By Deanna Swift

NEW YORK--It's a perennial mystery: why does your neighbor mark July 4th with displays of fervent patriotism, firing off bottle rockets at four in the morning, while you spend the day staring morosely into your glass of Chardonnay? Because your neighbor is a Republican, says a new Fox News poll.

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Long Hot Red Summer
According to the poll, Republicans are feeling especially patriotic this July 4th. Sixty-three percent of Republicans surveyed said that they consider themselves more proud to be an American this year than they did last year. By the same percentage, Republicans also described themselves as more patriotic than "average Americans."

Flying the flag
The poll was conducted on June 14-15, roughly two weeks before President Bush gave his speech at Fort Bragg, laying out a new policy of support for the troops: flying the flag over Independence Day weekend. Pollsters were thus unable to ask respondents whether they planned to respond to Mr. Bush's call. Approximately 900 registered voters participated in the poll, roughly the same number of viewers who tuned in to watch the President's speech.

Love it or leave it
The poll also asked respondents whether they would prefer to live in the United States, or if some other country would suit them better. Ninety-eight percent of Republicans say they're happiest here. Only 1% of GOP members who participated in the poll said that they'd rather live in another country. The few respondents who indicated that they'd prefer foreign digs may have been among a growing number of Christian families who plan to secede from the US. The group ChristianExodus.org now has 700 members who plan to move to South Carolina, then secede to protest US laws that are at odds with the Bible.

The Golden Rule
Finally, pollsters asked respondents how often they 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you,' otherwise known as the Golden Rule. Sixty-five percent of Republicans indicated that they practice the Golden Rule almost always, slightly outpracticing Democrats who said that they follow the Rule 63% of the time. Pollsters did not inquire as to what members of either party were doing unto others.

How the poll was conducted
How the poll was conducted: Opinion Dynamics Corporation, a Cambridge, MA survey research firm uses a computerized method in which a two-digit random number is added to the first eight digits of an actual working phone number to produce what is called a random digit dial sample. Use of such samples allows pollsters to contact listed and unlisted numbers, as well as households with new numbers. The interviewer then asks to speak to the adult with the next birthday.

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