Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Seeing an American flag can shift voters towards Republicanism
Discover ^ | July 10, 2011 | Ed Yong

Posted on 09/26/2017 10:50:02 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum

As a visitor to the USA, one sometimes gets the feeling that it’s hard to move or look around without seeing a flag. They are seemingly everywhere, an omnipresent reminder of national identity. But the star-spangled banner is more than a symbol; it can also influence minds in unexpected ways. Travis Carter from the University of Chicago has found that when people think about voting decisions, the mere sight of the American flag can subtly shift their political views… towards Republicanism. It’s an effect that holds in both Democrats and Republicans, it affects actual votes, and it lasts for at least 8 months.

In the run-up to the 2008 US presidential election, Carter recruited a group of around 200 volunteers and asked them about their political views. A month or so later, he split them into two groups that were comparable in terms of their political beliefs, voting intentions and other variables. Both groups rated how likely they were to vote for either the Democrat Barack Obama or the Republican John McCain on an online questionnaire. The questionnaires were identical except for one small detail – in the top left corner of the screen, one group saw a small American flag and the other saw nothing.

That tiny difference was enough to swing their voting preferences. Carter found that the volunteers who saw the tiny flag became more likely to vote for McCain than Obama (relative to their answers at the start of the experiment). They claimed to feel more positive towards the Republicans and even when Carter tested their unconscious atittudes, a small Republican bias still came through.

(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.discovermagazine.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: america; boogedyboogedy; murka; oldglory; patriotism; usflag
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-24 next last
This is why they want to drive the flag out of public view.
1 posted on 09/26/2017 10:50:02 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

It always struck me as odd that Democrat candidates pose with the American flag.

It’s incongruous.


2 posted on 09/26/2017 10:56:08 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum; flaglady47; Maine Mariner; pax_et_bonum; danamco; entropy12; ...
Therefore, the American flag CANNOT be posted in front of polling places anymore because the voters entering will vote Republican.....and THAT would be electioneering.

Just wait....

Leni

3 posted on 09/26/2017 10:56:26 AM PDT by MinuteGal
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

No wonder Leftists hate the flag! ‘All this for a damn flag’......Moochie at a 9/11 Rembrandt service. Republicans are the only ones who stand for patriotism and the good in this country. Period.


4 posted on 09/26/2017 10:57:46 AM PDT by originalbuckeye ('In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act'- George Orwell)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: originalbuckeye

So put flag outside every polling place and play the “stars and stripes forever” on speakers.


5 posted on 09/26/2017 11:00:16 AM PDT by Oldexpat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Right, did he control for other things such as media coverage during the same time?


6 posted on 09/26/2017 11:00:20 AM PDT by ican'tbelieveit
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

The Hammer & Sickle would be too revealing (Democrats).


7 posted on 09/26/2017 11:00:34 AM PDT by kaehurowing
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: ican'tbelieveit
Right, did he control for other things such as media coverage during the same time?

You seem to be implying that the fakestream presstitutes cover Republicans objectively.

That never happens.

8 posted on 09/26/2017 11:06:07 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (<img src="http://i.imgur.com/WukZwJP.gif" width=800>)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: MinuteGal

you took the words right out of my mouth, was thinking the very same thing, when will it start.


9 posted on 09/26/2017 11:06:51 AM PDT by fish hawk ( my new motto: Back Trump , the rest DUMP)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

If you walk up and get in line at the voting place and the guy in front of you Is wearing a T shirt with the American Flag on it, what would be the chances your mind says, he is going to vote democrat? LOL never


10 posted on 09/26/2017 11:09:55 AM PDT by fish hawk ( my new motto: Back Trump , the rest DUMP)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

No, I am saying the conclusion that the change in voting preference being directly attributed to the display of the US Flag is false.


11 posted on 09/26/2017 11:10:53 AM PDT by ican'tbelieveit
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum; pfflier; V K Lee; bigred

Yes, exactly.

Can’t have any patriotism for our country, or our nation’s history, now, can we?

The War of 1812

Although its events inspired one of the nation’s most famous patriotic songs, the War of 1812 is a relatively little-known war in American history. Despite its complicated causes and inconclusive outcome, the conflict helped establish the credibility of the young United States among other nations. It fostered a strong sense of national pride among the American people, and those patriotic feelings are reflected and preserved in the song we know today as the U.S. national anthem.
....

America’s future seemed more uncertain than ever as the British set their sights on Baltimore, Maryland, a vital seaport. On September 13, 1814, British warships began firing bombs and rockets on Fort McHenry, which protected the city’s harbor. The bombardment continued for twenty-five hours while the nation awaited news of Baltimore’s fate.
....

A Moment of Triumph
Then in that hour of deliverance and joyful triumph, my heart spoke.

—Francis Scott Key recalling the morning of September 14, 1814

By the “dawn’s early light” of September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key, who was aboard a ship several miles distant, could just make out an American flag waving above Fort McHenry. British ships were withdrawing from Baltimore, and Key realized that the United States had survived the battle and stopped the enemy advance. Moved by the sight, he wrote a song celebrating “that star-spangled banner” as a symbol of America’s triumph and endurance.

http://amhistory.si.edu/starspangledbanner/the-war-of-1812.aspx

The Star Spangled Banner

Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
‘Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!


12 posted on 09/26/2017 11:12:36 AM PDT by Jane Long (Praise God, from whom ALL blessings flow.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ican'tbelieveit

It doesn’t matter whether it’s true or not.

All that matters is that Democrats/BLM think it’s true.


13 posted on 09/26/2017 11:13:10 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (<img src="http://i.imgur.com/WukZwJP.gif" width=800>)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Exactly the point. This study must be refuted for that reason.


14 posted on 09/26/2017 11:15:32 AM PDT by ican'tbelieveit
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: ican'tbelieveit

Democrats award PhDs for believing things that aren’t true, so good luck with that.


15 posted on 09/26/2017 11:17:40 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (<img src="http://i.imgur.com/WukZwJP.gif" width=800>)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Leftists hate the flag.

Remember Barack’s best friend Bill Ayers.


16 posted on 09/26/2017 11:19:43 AM PDT by Yaelle (Socialism, faithfully implemented, delivers anguish and devastation. - President Trump)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

So now HilLIARy can blame her loss on the American flag. I thought she was blaming it on “The Russians.” She needs a mirror to see, find the reason she lost.


17 posted on 09/26/2017 11:26:28 AM PDT by faithhopecharity ("Politicans are not born, they're excreted." -- Marcus Tillius Cicero)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum
E. Pluribus Unum :" Carter found that the volunteers who saw the tiny flag became more likely to vote for McCain than Obama "

What's the difference between McC and Obungler ?
They are both DemocRATS !
One is white, the other is almost black; therefore it shows racism .../s

18 posted on 09/26/2017 11:30:06 AM PDT by Tilted Irish Kilt
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

They have nothing to say when the leftards sway ISIS,Anarchy,Antifa,Soviet,Hezbollah,Mexican and other anti-American flags. They can FOAD. They really do not want to go down the road they are so confident to be pushing.


19 posted on 09/26/2017 12:27:19 PM PDT by shanover (...To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.-S.Adams)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

When one thinks of our flag, one thinks of what is best for the country. When one ignores things like the flag, one is more likely to be narrow minded about what is best for me.


20 posted on 09/26/2017 12:27:47 PM PDT by spintreebob
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-24 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson