Californians have dramatically shifted their views on the controversial issue of same-sex marriage from overwhelming opposition a generation ago to supporting it by a five-point margin today, a new Field Poll shows.
The latest Field Poll, which examined the changing California electorate over the last three decades, shows that state voters have become far more tolerant than they were three decades ago on some controversial social issues – including abortion rights and assisted suicide, both of which they now overwhelmingly support.
Major shifts on such social issues are tied to demographic changes and in large part to the growing ranks of independent voters, who now make up one-fifth of the state electorate, said Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll.
Time to overturn Prop 8!
Gosh…this is pretty amazing news considering that they just passed of a constitutional amendment against gay marriage last November!!!
Read more: http://www.breakingnews.ie/world/gay-marriage-abolished-in-california-referendum-384995.html#ixzz0NLFPV6UP
Hmmm, should we believe the agit-prop or the actual votes that changed their constitution? Me, I believe the vote.
Yeah, didn’t Prop 8 pass by about the margin this article claims it should have been favored by, and haven’t anti-8 forces recently reconsidered bringing it to a vote again because polling showed resistance to gay marriage hardening?
What is this Field Poll?
Californians [i][b]voted against[/b][/i] same sex marriage by a wide margin. Did they suddenly overwhelmingly change their minds in the last 8 months?
Truth is infinitely malleable in some people’s worlds
#4: While Prop. 8 passed, I would not call 52% to 48% a wide margin.
Before you discredit this poll, a couple facts for you:
— The poll was contacted by Field Research Co., a reputable research organization that has particularly tracked Californian voter trends and sentiments for decades. The full report that this information was drawn on can be found at http://field.com/fieldpollonline/subscribers/COI-09-August-California-Electorate.pdf
— The poll showed that same sex marriage by favored 49% to 44%. Seven percent had no opinion. Thus, neither side has a simple majority (more than 50%) of the sample.
— It is important to look at the sub-trends of data within the votes on Prop 8 (see http://www.sacbee.com/elections/story/1372009.html). Democrats and Independents voted against Prop 8 by a majority (No on Prop 8: 64% for Demo. and 54% for Indep.). But, Republicans voted for Prop 8 by 82%. In addition, both Republicans and Democrats were a lower percentage of the voting population than their rolls show throughout the state.
The differential in Prop. 8 was the independent voter. They make up 24% of the registered electorate, but were 28% of the accepted ballots for Prop. 8. This fact, combined with the more loyal Republican base, truly allowed Prop. to pass. To overturn this result, the Democratic voting base will need to become galvanized – something that doesn’t appear likely at this time.
Just so you know – a Field poll was released prior to last November’s election which showed about the same numbers and the Field poll folks predicted that Prop. 8 would lose. Part of the issue is that people realize that the social elite have decided that the “proper” response now is to favor gay marriage and so when they are asked by another person, they respond with what they believe to be the socially acceptable response. However, when they can vote on the question in private, their more truthful opinion comes out.
I guess my response would be to ask if there was a Field Poll questions asked about any other things. I mean, for a state that is making a killing off medicinal marijuana, do the masses have qualms about anything short of murder, rape, and pillage?