Dumping On America Is A Bad Political Strategy
Why can’t either party see that patriotism is popular?
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On to today’s article…
It’s become fashionable in elite circles to dump on America. On the left, you find the increasingly popular idea that racism and oppression are the soul of America rather than the founding ideals of liberty and equality. On the right, you find Donald Trump launching his presidential campaign by calling America a “failing nation.”
To some extent, this pessimism is reflected in polling. Back in January of 2001, the first year that Gallup asked the question, 87% of the country was “extremely” or “very” proud to be American. When Gallup asked the question again last month, only 67% said they were “extremely” or “very” proud.
But while a 20% drop is not insignificant, it’s also not as sharp of a drop as I would have expected, considering all that’s happened in the last two decades. In January of 2001, the economy was strong, political polarization was under control, and America was still enjoying its role as the world’s lone superpower following its victory in the Cold War. Over the next two decades, though, America would endure the deadliest terrorist attack in U.S. history, several disastrous wars, a recession, a pandemic, an attack on the U.S. Capitol, and a general escalation in polarization and political division. The fact that over two-thirds of the country is still extremely or very proud to be American is, above all, evidence that Americans are a naturally patriotic bunch.
And when you dig a bit deeper into the numbers, you find that the elite pessimism about America is even less reflective of popular opinion than the topline numbers suggest. If you include the 22% of Americans who say they are “moderately proud,” you have an overwhelming majority — 89% — who say they’re moderately, very, or extremely proud to be Americans. Compare that to the 11% who fall on the other side of the ledger, who say they are “only a little proud” (7%) or “not at all proud” (4%).
That’s not to say that some demographics aren’t more patriotic than others, because they are. Republicans, white people, and people over 55 are generally more proud to be American than are Democrats, minorities, and Americans under 35. But even these latter, less patriotic groups are still overwhelmingly more likely than not to say they are proud to be American.
For that reason, it’s baffling that neither Democrats nor Republicans are working to appeal to these patriotic majorities. Democrats seem intent on hammering America’s flaws without giving serious attention to its many virtues. Gone are the days when Barack Obama could use an unapologetically patriotic speech as a lunching pad to political stardom. Republicans, for their part, have rallied around a man whose entire message is that America is no longer great (and therefore needs to be made great again).
If I were advising the parties on political strategy, my #1 recommendation would be to drop the anti-American bent they’ve adopted in recent years. The fact is that Americans like America. It’s flat-out bizarre that neither political party has been willing or able to tap into this, because whichever party managed to craft a popular patriotic message would be unstoppable.
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