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Siena Poll: 71% Of NYers Patriotic; 80% Proud To Be An American

Composite Image by Dave Lucas

As Independence Day arrives, it’s a divisive time in the U.S.  Siena College is out with the results of a survey asking New Yorkers about patriotism.

Most of us pause to celebrate on the 4th of July. 71 percent of respondents told Siena pollsters they consider themselves to be patriotic, men a little bit stronger on patriotism than women, and older New Yorkers more patriotic than younger New Yorkers.

71% of NYers Patriotic; 80% Proud to be an American - Most Pause to Celebrate Country on the 4th

Don Levy is director of the Siena College Research Institute:   "80 percent of New Yorkers say that they're proud to be an American. We see interestingly that both in terms of patriotism and in terms of being proud to be an American, the older you are here in the state of New York, you're more patriotic, you describe yourself as being more patriotic and more proud to be an American than younger New Yorkers, and Republicans tend to describe themselves as being more patriotic and prouder to be an American than the Democrats."

Levy says many folks opt to dress in patriotic colors on Independence Day.   "Over half of us, 55 percent say that they plan to wear red white and blue for the holiday, but virtually all of us, 77 percent, say you know what?  I'm going to pause to celebrate our country on the 4th, and three-quarters of us say that hearing the Star-Spangled Banner fills us with pride."

When it comes to behaviors and attitudes associated with patriotism, the poll finds 52% of New Yorkers say that they vote in all or nearly all elections.    "We don't see a great deal of variation by Democrats and Republicans, but Independents only say that they vote at the rate of 44 percent. Young people between 18 and 34, they vote at the lowest rate. In fact 35 percent of the people we spoke to 18to 34 say that they either never vote or only vote once a while. How about volunteering?  32 percent of us say that they volunteer very often to help others in their community. And about the same amount 32 percent, one-third, say that they very often talk about politics or local affairs with their friends and family. Again, older New Yorkers more inclined to both volunteer and to discuss politics with friends and family. "

What about forms of non-violent protest that have garnered headlines in recent years?   "We asked people does it make you feel angry to see someone not stand for the Star-Spangled Banner or the Pledge of Allegiance?  There we see a split amongst New Yorkers.  52 percent say 'yes absolutely it bothers me.' But 45 percent say it does not make them angry.  Again, Republicans, at the rate of 80% or upset when someone doesn't stand. Democrats, 63% of Democrats are not bothered by that behavior."

The survey also touched on freedom of speech and flag burning:

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Is there a bridge too far? Is it is there some place that that you just can't accept a certain behavior and and that's really flag-burning. We asked is there a circumstance in which you would think it's okay that someone would would protest by burning an American flag and 68% of New Yorkers said there's absolutely no circumstance where they would accept it- still, two-thirds of New York has told us that they think it is certainly a very American thing to do is a patriotic thing to do to protest when they believe that there's actions that your government is taking that you don't agree with in fact, when asked about the freedom of speech even for those who criticize our country, 88% of New Yorkers virtually everyone, extraordinarily high numbers whether you're Democrat Republican or independent say that they believe that we should have complete freedom of speech even for those who criticize the country is America the best country in the world 73% of us three quarters believe that it is - again slightly higher 91% of Republicans 66% of Democrats, but asked about that old saying 'America, love it or leave it,' there only 56% It's still a majority say, absolutely. I think you either love our country or you leave it. So enjoy the Fourth of July certainly New Yorkers are going to pause and celebrate and certainly one of the things that New Yorkers told us that they appreciate very much about our country is freedom of speech here on the 4th of July.

Siena conducted the poll June 11-18 by random phone calls to 348 New York adults via landline and cell phones and 456 responses drawn from a proprietary online panel of New Yorkers. The sample has an overall margin of error of +/- 3.8 percentage points.

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.
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