The “Pride Gap” Divides the Parties
A Fourth of July headline from the Gallup Poll proclaimed “American Pride Hits New Low” – with only a minority saying they are “extremely
proud” to be American. The most disturbing detail is the partisan divide: 76% of Republicans say they’re
“extremely proud” of their country, but only 22% of Democrats agree. You can’t blame this division on
Trump, either: even in the middle of the Obama administration, Republicans were MUCH more likely to
express pride in their American identity than Democrats, by a margin of 68 to 47% in 2015. After
decades of bashing the US for racism, sexism, homophobia, inequality, and environmental destruction,
it’s no surprise that even under Democratic presidents, Democrats feel less pride in America than Republicans. Conservatives want the rest of the world to be more like America,
while the left tries to make us more like the rest of the world.