by Erica Holloway / San Diego Rostra / February 4, 2011
SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Happy Dutch Day? Nope, most Americans say they’d rather work.
More than 60 percent of Americans reject the idea of denoting 40th President Ronald Reagan’s birthday, February 6, as a federal public holiday.
The survey of 504 American adults was conducted between February 1-3, 2011 by Competitive Edge Research & Communication.
SEE POLL RESULTS: Reagan Birthday Holiday Analysis
Just days before the centennial of his birth, the survey shows support for the holiday somewhat split along party lines between Democrats and Republicans, with independents siding with Democrats in opposition.
Politics aside, the poll also finds more support for the holiday among lower income and younger Americans.
Currently, the United States Congress has established 11 federal holidays. Only the nation’s first president, George Washington, has received the honor of a federal holiday in his name, commonly called President’s Day.
“We expected more Republican support for a Reagan holiday and we found that,” said CERC President John Nienstedt (Neen-sted). “But the data blows away some stereotypical assumptions. We were surprised that opposition is solid among more affluent Americans and seniors, while lower income and younger residents are much more open to the idea. “
Ronald Wilson Reagan was born in Illinois in 1911 and died in 2004 in California at the age of 93. He graduated from Eureka College, where he studied economics and sociology, in 1932.
President Reagan served in the Oval Office from 1981 to 1989. He began as a radio sportscaster followed by a career in TV and motion pictures and became President of the Screen Actors Guild. Before his presidency, Reagan served as California’s 33rd Governor from 1967 to 1975.
Reagan also served in the Army Enlisted Reserve from 1937 to 1945.
President Barack Obama established the Ronald Reagan Centennial Celebration Commission in 2009 to manage the related festivities.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Now we need to have a poll about how many San Diegans want the Coronado Bridge named after Reagan. Any takers?
We used to call him “Ronnie Ray-gun”.
Hell he’s got a Navy ship, and Sports Park named after him, but good greef.
At least Ronnie could ride a horse. My guess is that Daddy Bush played the role of Dick Cheney in Ronnie’s “LOOK I’M PRESIDENT” movie.
Nope, I sure don’t want the bridge named after this former actor/president, nor have a federal holiday named after this president who said “that the worst
words you want to hear are ‘I’m from the govt. and I’m here to help.'” Tell that to the millions who have gotten/get Soc. Sec., student loans, disaster assistance, Unemployment, VA benefits, etc and to the past wars before his time that have been stopped because of our veterans fighting in them. He should have said “Now I want to be a politican, and I’m here to help myself and the rich and screw the little guy.”
As far as I’m concerned, he is the reason the federal govt. is in the shape it is in now.
One of his own Cabinet members, David Stockman, left saying that Reagan’s “trickle down” theory didn’t work, plus he was not a friend to labor, gutting the Health and Safety offices, and his despiciable involvement in the Iran Contra affair was a disgrace.
So I’m glad to see that the results of this poll.
Let’s see: Iran-Contra, turning us into a debtor nation, turning his back on AIDS, firing the air controllers. RR Day? I don’t say no, I say “hell no.”
Lets not forget Reaguns military accomplishment s. The invasion of Granada. He kicked butt there. Bush should have picked a Caribbean island. We could have been in and out with mission accomplished no problem.
Rather than Feb. 6, I’m all for a cold day in hell!
The guy turned in fellow actors during the McCarthy hearings when he was SAG president. One could jump to the conclusion that he did it to try to reduce the number of A-list actors he had to compete against in the losing battle to climb out of a decades long B-movie career. The GOP liked his style and came a calling. He switched from Democrat to Republican and he took his back stabbing show on the road all the way to Washington! – with a side-show in Sacramento first, of course. Raygun simply didn’t expound the kind of values that I as an american hold dear to my heart. He just doesn’t deserve a holiday named after him. He was not a great president.
To add to that. He wasn’t a great human being either.
A Federal Holiday for the spokesman for gutting the federal government? How about a national holiday of disdain for both political parties when we burn all effigies of presidents in public and take a day off from brainwashing? Other countries do this, like Guy Fawkes in England or basically all Carnivals in Spanish speaking countries.
sign the petition, to say no. Keep the name
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