« BACK  |  PRINT

RS

FRONT PAGE CONTRIBUTOR

Fourth of July: REPUBLICAN BREEDING GROUND!!!!!

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  June 30th, 2011 at 01:07 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

[UPDATE: Promoted, with a link added from AoSHQ.  I wish that I had written #1 on that list. - ML]

I suspect that the Democratic party probably doesn’t want to ever see this sentence from a Harvard statistical survey appear in a news story:

Taken together, the results indicate that Fourth of July celebrations in the United States shape the nation’s political landscape by forming beliefs and increasing participation, primarily in favor of the Republican party.

…for fairly obvious reasons .  Short version: going to Fourth of July celebrations (using a statistical rule of thumb* of good weather = participation) as a child results in an increased possibility of voting Republican as an adult (it apparently doesn’t move the needle at all when it comes to voting Democratic).  Oh, and progressives are why the Fourth became a public secular holiday in the first place**.  Lastly: if you want to zap your kids into patriotism and/or Republicanism, the key dates to get them to a parade are from 7 to 10 for later partisan identification, and 15 to 18 for increased voter participation.

You may have guessed from the preceding paragraph that I am well aware of the old saying that there are lies, damned lies, and statistics.  And that the assumptions found in this study are… well, different.  And that there are perfectly patriotic Democrats*** out there.  But I enjoyed writing that title just a bit too much to really care about any of that.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

PS:

Happy Fourth of July, everyone!

*Translation: “guess.”

**Oops?

***Including my mom.  On the other hand, unkind people could make the claim that Ordinary, Decent Democrats tend to hit a glass ceiling when it comes to advancement within their party…

Tags: , , , , , , ,

COMMENTS

POSTING RULES  |  LOGIN TO COMMENT  |  REGISTER TODAY
  • izoneguy

    N/T

  • http://pocketchangeproductions.net/ anotherindyfilmguy

    She tried renamed the weekend the international jazz fest weekend or something similar when she took office…

    But then this is the same dem that as a council member blocked efforts by the old Mayor to prevent the city from defaulting on debt and essentially is driving the city into the ground and whining about an act of the state legislature that will take over failing disgrace of a city that Harrisburg has become…

  • earlgrey

    My son was that is. I use it to inspire me.

  • swami7774

    …doesn’t buy what it used to.

  • http://whattoreadtoday.blogspot.com/ Paula

    There are similar (maybe even greater) statistics for homeschoolers. Of course, every homeschooler I know takes their kids to 4th of July celebrations, memorial day ceremonies, national cemeteries, military museums and must, as a matter of conscience, stop and read every sign on every memorial in every small town they pass through. Just ask my kids.

    I went to a Leadership Institute class one time and heard someone say they considered homeschoolers “the sweatshop of the conservative movement.” Start ‘em young, I always say.

  • aesthete

    (Though there’s something to that.) The general attitude of the 4th is that we blow up things, eat unhealthy foods, and generally engage in activities that moral nannies dislike (as evidenced by the number of states which have criminalized fireworks).

  • westcoastpatriette

    I read the same report and could not believe the Harvard professors’ conclusion that Fourth of July celebrations are “politically biased events that socialize children into Republicans.”

    Now I’ve heard it all. Pretty soon, the left will be suing people who celebrate the Fourth for discrimination against liberals.

  • MF

    but I believe much of the criminalization of fireworks in California is for health and safety reasons. First, there is the nanny-state angle. But another issue is fire safety. Out here in California, we are continually having fires started as a result of people using fireworks unsafely, or using unsafe fireworks brought in illegally from Mexico.

  • aesthete

    I don’t know the details of CA’s ban, but I know that the health/safety reasons have been trotted out as reasons to ban all fireworks in states that historically have no such problems with fire.

  • trutexan

    But now that I think about it, not out of reach for someone who wants the US to be socialist country. That’s what happens when hippies refuse to grow up and instead become professors and teach our children.