(The Center Square) – American voters overwhelmingly support their country’s founding ideals – yet the majority also believe that the U.S. is failing to live up to them, according to new polling.
The Center Square’s Voters’ Voice Poll revealed that 86% of registered U.S. voters support America’s founding principles, among which the poll listed “individual rights such as life, liberty, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to bear arms, equal treatment under the law, and government by the consent of the people.”
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