The Washington Post's Aaron Blake on one of the many reasons why polls claiming majority support for SSM don't reflect reality -- they don't offer all the options:
"...One Republican pollster said support for gay marriage has been oversold because of that binary choice. The pollster asked for anonymity to candidly discuss a sensitive issue.
“For the most part, the polling out there is combining the civil union and gay marriage responses together to get their ‘majority’ supporting gay marriage,” said the pollster. “There’s a reason why the (gay marriage) ban has passed in 32 states, and there’s a reason the gay community is starting to go through the legislative process.”
... “When we give voters the easier choice [civil unions], they frequently take it. Civil unions is an easier choice,” said one Democratic pollster, who also asked for anonymity because if the issue’s sensitivity. “It’s why, for example, most pollsters don’t read people ‘undecided’ as an option when asking people a head to head. If you read people an ‘undecided’ choice, they are always more apt to take the out.”
8 Comments
When given only two options most Americans choose SSM. When civil unions are throw in as a choice, SSM still leads the 3-way race. Either way, legal recognition is still the winner.
Misleading? Not like NOM's posts.
@Pete, If SSM leads in a binary choice or 3-way race, how come every time it's been put to a popular vote, the people vote for pro-gender marriage? Where are your facts?
Support pro-gender marriage!
"There’s a reason the gay community is starting to go through the legislative process.”
Yes, because the rights a minority should never be put up for a vote by the majority.
Mom, were all 31 voted on this year?
Over 2/3 of these states voted when the national disapproval rate was above 60% and only one was voted on when SSM approval rate was above 50%.
So, duh.
Pete, the polls have always overstated the support for SS"M" in each state before those referendums. In California, the polls showed Prop 8 being voted down by more than half the voters. The same in Maine with their own marriage referendum.
The problem is that pollsters know how to ask a question that helps get the answer they want, no matter how you spin things.
Son of Adam, which states had SSM in the lead in 2006?
When do we vote on special rights for Christians?
"Son of Adam, which states had SSM in the lead in 2006?"
None! Just like now, regardless of what the polls say