ABC Highlights Study Linking July 4 Parade Attendance to Voting Republican
On Friday's World News on ABC, correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi detailed findings of a Harvard study which claims a correlation between attending July 4 parades and voting for Republicans.
Substitute host David Muir introduced the story: "And tonight, a provocative new study suggests the simple act of taking your child to see the parade shapes not only their patriotism but their politics. Who will they vote for?"
Alfonsi got right to the answer as she began her report with a play on the words "independence" and "independents":
Forget independence (independents). Researchers say the Fourth of July is really for Republicans. The study out today shows that Fourth of July parades not only boost GOP turnout at the polls, they boost the likelihood that the kids watching will become Republicans. Yes, Republicans.
After showing a clip of an apparently liberal woman in Boston disagreeing with the study by exclaiming, "Bull!" the ABC correspondent continued: "Researchers from Harvard claim that every year a child goes to a Fourth of July parade, it raises the likelihood by two percent that they'll become a Republican."
Below is a complete transcript of the report from the Friday, July 1, World News on ABC:
DAVID MUIR, BEFORE COMMERCIAL BREAK: And when we come back tonight, a question for you: Will that parade this weekend determine which party your child votes for when they grow up?
...
MUIR: Twenty-eight million of us will attend a parade this weekend. And tonight, a provocative new study suggests the simple act of taking your child to see the parade shapes not only their patriotism but their politics. Who will they vote for? Here's ABC's Sharyn Alfonsi.
SHARYN ALFONSI: Forget independence (independents). Researchers say the Fourth of July is really for Republicans. The study out today shows that Fourth of July parades not only boost GOP turnout at the polls, they boost the likelihood that the kids watching will become Republicans. Yes, Republicans.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: Bull! Bull!
ALFONSI: Researchers from Harvard claim that every year a child goes to a Fourth of July parade, it raises the likelihood by two percent that they'll become a Republican.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: They might already be Republicans.
ALFONSI: But not everyone is ready to hand the holiday over.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: Do not tell me that is a conservative holiday. Do not tell me they’re the only people who love America. It's not true. It's not true.
ALFONSI: After all, the parade in her hometown, Boston, one of the oldest in the country, hasn't exactly turned the political tide there. That city hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1926. Most people adamant today the fourth is our birthday party, not a political one. Sharyn Alfonsi, ABC News, New York.
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Comments
2%
Submitted by GregE on Sun, 07/03/2011 - 9:46pm.
Give me a break. +/- 2% is a margin of error.
Something else for some lib group somewhere to use as their underlying (though silent) reason for trying to cancel a town parade somewhere.
Anyway, in other news, children who whined more often were found to be 2% more likely to become Democrats.
http://0.tqn.com/d/politicalhumor/1/0/U/j/dem_party_seal.jpg
Where is this coming from??
Submitted by jon_torlin on Sun, 07/03/2011 - 9:46pm.
Ok, I've seen something similar in the local news in this area, but I don't get this, where is this supposed "only Republicans going to the Independence Day (there, I said it!!) Parade" coming from?
It's not a "conservative" holiday, it's a holiday to celebrate our Independence for anyone who wishes to remain a free Republic. Just so happens that currently in this climate(no relation to Climate Change), it's the Conservatives who STILL value it while the Dems(the current form) want to move away from that.
People voting Republicans were doing so to get away from the socialist policies of the bogus potus. Even people who would have voted for Dems voted Republican. Gee, does that make them conservative? How about the "Independents?" (big misnomer if I ever heard of one, they need another name, how about fence-sitters?) Some of them voted Republicans, golly gee whiz!
I'm sick of the media trying to tell people it's not cool to be patriotic and want to live by the values of our Constitution, even though there are others trying to destroy them, THOSE are the ones that aren't "cool." (actually, I call them enemies myself, but that's just me)
-Jon
Jon, Harvard published a
Submitted by jkwtrading on Sun, 07/03/2011 - 10:06pm.
Jon,
Harvard published a study a few days ago..
I read the article and one poster nailed it right on the head..guess what Harvard, Guess what Harvard grads, you all took your picture and put it into the yearbook. We now know who you are..
Yes, it's a birthday party...
Submitted by ProudAmerican58 on Sun, 07/03/2011 - 9:47pm.
...but the Republicans are the party that actually still remembers what that birth was about.
Happy Independance Day and may God Bless America!
Nurture, not nature. . .
Submitted by neutron on Sun, 07/03/2011 - 9:53pm.
What a load of clap-trap hog-wash!
Parents who are proud of America take their kids to 4th of July Parades.
Parents who are Proud of America tend to be conservatives, and not liberal like Moooshell who wasn't proud of America until her husband Barak Obama (who is not a Muslim) was elected.
Moooshell and her ilk never took their kids to a 4th of July Parade.
What's the mystery?
Well, after reading articles
Submitted by ant on Sun, 07/03/2011 - 9:56pm.
Well, after reading articles like this and about beef barbecues and potato salad being 'environmental disasters', gee, I wonder why someone witnessing freedom on parade wouldn't jump right into the all-encompassing politics of the wet-blanket party of socialism "Do what I say" elite? What an enigma.
Sure, liberals only celebrate
Submitted by Chris Norman on Sun, 07/03/2011 - 10:25pm.
Sure, liberals only celebrate Cinco de Mayo and all those other politically correct anniversaries of really important events affecting truly oppressed peoples.... :)
It seems to me that a number
Submitted by killa37 on Sun, 07/03/2011 - 10:37pm.
It seems to me that a number of lib self-serving events and 'holidays' and celebrations always land on May Day...........which is your prototype communist anti-USA day!!!
And about this July 4th=Republican garbage writen here...............the fact that it was a Harvard 'study' - and undeniably slanted to get the results that they wanted - makes it about as legit as...........................Obama's so-called intelligence??? His so-called Christianity??? His so-called speaking abilities??? His so-called Americanism????
Maybe somebody should do a study showing that kids who have to read about 'Janie has Two Mommies' or can't do basic math and writing, but can put a condom on a cucumber, or think that welfare is the normal way to live, or think that global warming is being caused by bad white Republicans........etc.etc.etc..............all grow up to be Democrats!!!!
Let's not
Submitted by misterbee241 on Mon, 07/04/2011 - 11:24am.
forget Kwanzaa.
Well we know we won't see any Harvard faculty at a parade.
Submitted by NeoKong on Sun, 07/03/2011 - 10:48pm.
Not unless there are any greased up speedo wearing men or drag queens throwing beads riding those floats because we already know how they feel about the military or saluting the flag.
I exaggerate a little to make a point...
Submitted by Chris Norman on Sun, 07/03/2011 - 11:46pm.
Don't many "sophisticated" liberal "elites" consider patriotic celebrations simplistic, nationalistic, and jingoistic? To them, waving the flag is unseemly and embarrassing. Wearing an American flag lapel pin is just for pandering Republicans. Heck, they probably consider red, white and blue gaudy and in bad taste (remember the DNC in San Francisco in 1984 when they "muted" those colors into pink, "egg shell" and baby blue?). Overt patriotism is just for us gun totin' knuckle-draggers who aren't sophisticated internationalists, embarrassed of their country, like they are.
Chris N: I must be missing something...
Submitted by Grumpy in Arizona on Mon, 07/04/2011 - 10:28am.
...Where's the exaggeration?
- Grump :o)
Grumpy,
Submitted by Chris Norman on Mon, 07/04/2011 - 8:10pm.
It was only a very little. :)
After the Democratic Convention in the Moscone Center in San Francisco (dubbed the "Temple of Doom"), I think it was Ronald Reagan who called the Democrats (he wasn't specific) "pastel patriots" - which I thought was the perfect characterization.
What about Kwanza?
Submitted by needle on Mon, 07/04/2011 - 12:06am.
I have not the read the Harvard Study mentioned here. Not that I would, even if there were a link to it.
But I guess that I would be interested to know the likelihood that celebrating Kwanza turns people into oikophobic fruitcakes.
- Looking forward to the self-annihilation of the Manipulated Stories Machine.
I bet the communist holiday
Submitted by rbosque on Mon, 07/04/2011 - 12:49am.
I bet the communist holiday May 1st brings in a lot of recruits for the Democrats.
My first thought,
Submitted by Mark81150 on Mon, 07/04/2011 - 8:08am.
As to why would Harvard do a study to show republicans are much more likely to attend parades on the 4th...?
Color me cynical,.. but maybe to discourage people from attending patriotic holiday parades? Your average Boston or East Coast lib, would rather eat a bucket of dirt than admit the republicans or conservatives are right about something. A lib says it our national Birthday, which technically is correct, but neglects to mention the very American concepts of liberty which fueled the event of our nations birth. A conservative with speak of liberty and independence, and the word birthday will rarely be mentioned, if at all.
That it's a Harvard study won't matter, you can bet the media narrative will be,
Those sons o B*tches are trying to steal the 4th for themselves only, when we never even brought it up, Harvard and ABC did. That won't matter to the perpetually aggrieved liberals out there,.. one more reason to reject our national patriotic symbols and events.. You don't wanna be like them do you?
I don't know if it's intentional on their part, or just another knee jerk response.
Here come the hysterical news reports
Submitted by moderncommentaries83 on Mon, 07/04/2011 - 9:39am.
About how "dangerous" and "unhealthy" and "excluding" 4th of July celebrations are.
Then come the legislative bills prohibiting such events, or at least prohibiting children from attending. After all, we can't have conservatives raising their kids with conservative values...brainwashing and indoctrinating children is the liberal's market.
This study is a load of hooey.
Rooted in a hatred of America, and a hatred of people who love this country and what she stands for.
Whether the Harvard study has any merits or not is irrelevant.
Submitted by Rush Fan on Mon, 07/04/2011 - 11:01am.
The Democrat Party is no longer the party of John F. Kennedy. It is comprised of individuals such as six term former Georgia congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, who goes on Libyan state TV and condemns U.S. policy.
The wacky far left has taken over the Democrat Party.
Another excuse
Submitted by misterbee241 on Mon, 07/04/2011 - 11:20am.
for liberals to hate America and the Fourth of July.
I dont remember as a kid attending 4th of July parades. I'm not sure Fredericksburg had them. They did have however, a parade on George Washington Day, since Fredericksburg/Stafford is the boyhood home of Washington. So maybe that gave me my worldview.
So does this mean kids are
Submitted by Rusty Shackleford on Mon, 07/04/2011 - 4:19pm.
So does this mean kids are more likely to grow up to be democrats if they waste their free time watching American Idol?
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i Think There's
Submitted by Emma Grump on Mon, 07/04/2011 - 9:22pm.
Something to the suspicion that many people feel about lack of patriotism in their democrat friends/ acquaintances. I count among my friends both conservatives and liberals, and I have noticed 2 distinct things: ALL the conservatives have the American flag displayed somewhere throughout the year, either on their porches or cars or both, and wear patriotic clothing at times, but FEW of the liberals I know display the flag. Both sides claim patriotism, but it seems only one side actually exhibits it.