Christmastime for conservative activists brings lots of spam emails from GOP leaders in Michigan. These provide a curious sidebar in the "War on Christmas", the leftist effort to eliminate traditional symbols of Christmas as part of the broader culture war.
The chief symbol of the War on Christmas is the battle between the greetings "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Holidays", with "Season's Greetings" making an occasional appearance. Of course, there wouldn't be "Holidays" without Christmas. The bizarre argument for using "Happy Holidays" is that some tiny fraction of the population would be offended by "Merry Christmas", so we must use a phrase that annoys far more people. (But they're the wrong people, so who cares are them?)
Two recent polls have shown that 69% and 77% of Americans prefer "Merry Christmas". The percentages of Republicans was 88% yet another poll.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/content/pdf/7006
http://www.goppolk.org/?p=1131
Yet some Republican leaders have taken a cowardly stand with the forces of political correctness rather than the vast majority of the Republican base. Here is a list of the greetings used by prominent Republicans who have mailed or emailed me.
Rick Snyder: "Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays"
Brian Calley: "Seasons Greetings"
Bobby Schotak: "holiday season"
Saul Anuzis: "Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays"
Bill Scheutte: "Happy Holidays"
Randy Richardville: "holiday season, a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year"
Pete Hoekstra: "Merry Christmas"
Dan Horning (candidate for UM regent): "Warmest Holiday Wishes"
Jack Hoogendyk: "Merry Christmas"
Senator Tonya Schuitmaker: "Happy Holidays"
Rep. Margaret O'Brien: "Merry Christmas"
Speaker Jase Bolger: "A Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy New Year!"
Kalamazoo GOP: "Merry Christmas"
Please post any additional data you have in the comments.
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