11/22/04 FOX Poll: Thankfully, a Consensus

Following a time when much discussion has focused on the polarization of the nation, it’s a nice change to concentrate on something about which most people agree: thankfulness. A FOX News poll finds there is widespread agreement among Americans that they have more to be thankful for this Thanksgiving compared to 10 years ago.

Fully 72 percent of the public says they have more to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season, about one in 10 says they have "the same" amount for which to be grateful, and 15 percent say they have less to be thankful for today compared to a decade ago.

Looking at different groups, among those most likely to say they have more to be thankful for: young people (82 percent), those living in high-income households (84 percent), Republicans (83 percent) and those living in the South (77 percent).

The gap between those married and those unmarried is significant, as 79 percent of those married say they have more to be thankful for compared to 63 percent of singles.

An even larger gap exists between political groups: Democrats are 20 percentage points less likely than Republicans and 9 percentage points less likely than independents to say they have more to give thanks for this year. Even so, a 63 percent majority of Democrats say they feel more appreciative today.

Taking a look at past results shows that the public is less positive this year compared to previous Thanksgivings. In both 2001 and 2002, 82 percent said they had more to be thankful for and fewer than 10 percent said they had less.

Opinion Dynamics Corporation conducted the national telephone poll of 900 registered voters for FOX News on November 16-17.

This Thanksgiving, do you have more or less to be thankful for than you did 10 years ago?

Overall, an 83 percent majority of Americans say they feel "very" thankful this year, 12 percent say "somewhat" and 4 percent say they feel "not very" or "not at all" grateful this Thanksgiving.

• PDF: Click here for complete poll results