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MsTinkerbelly · 03-13-2012, 12:49 PM

Wall Street Journal poll shows shift in marriage equality attitudes among unexpected groups
By Jacob Combs

A Sunday article in the Wall Street Journal titled “Democrats Pressure Obama on Gay Marriage” highlights the possibly impending showdown between President Obama and Democratic party leaders like Nancy Pelosi and Antonio Villaraigosa regarding the formal inclusion of marriage equality in the party’s platform. But what is perhaps most surprising and encouraging in the Journal‘s piece is a poll showing that not only is support for marriage at an all time high, it has also increased dramatically among some unexpected and significant groups:

The most-recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll suggests that views on gay marriage are shifting faster than for any other hot-button social issue in recent memory, pollsters say.

Forty-nine percent of Americans now say they approve of gay marriage, up from 40% shortly after Mr. Obama took office in 2009. Mr. Obama’s stated stance makes him part of the 8% of respondents who are unsure how they feel about gay marriage, according to the poll released last week.

The poll showed the biggest jump among blue-collar voters and African Americans, two key Democratic constituencies. Support among blue-collar voters jumped 20 percentage points to 49%. African-American support for gay marriage rose from 32% to 50%. More than half of Hispanics and voters aged 18 to 34 also voiced support. Mr. Obama’s advisers have closely watched the changing views among African-Americans and Hispanics.

If these trends hold up, this could be big news for the marriage movement, not just in terms of the President’s position but also the greater political landscape itself. African-American, Hispanic and blue-collar voters are important to the President’s reelection strategy, but if support for marriage among those groups is growing, a choice by the President to fully endorse marriage equality becomes much less risky.

More importantly, it means that the political majority that favors marriage is not only growing, but becoming more diverse. It is both rare and thrilling to be living in a time when attitudes on this issue are changing so quickly in the direction of equal rights and justice. President Obama isn’t the only one losing ground for his justification about staying out of the marriage debate. As attitudes continue to change, politicians across the political spectrum will lose that justification as well

03-13-2012, 12:49 PM	#14
MsTinkerbelly Timed Out - TOS Drama How Do You Identify?: ... Preferred Pronoun?: ... Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: ... Posts: 6,573 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 30,737 Thanked 22,925 Times in 5,021 Posts Rep Power: 0	Prop 8 blog...the time they are a changing Wall Street Journal poll shows shift in marriage equality attitudes among unexpected groups By Jacob Combs A Sunday article in the Wall Street Journal titled “Democrats Pressure Obama on Gay Marriage” highlights the possibly impending showdown between President Obama and Democratic party leaders like Nancy Pelosi and Antonio Villaraigosa regarding the formal inclusion of marriage equality in the party’s platform. But what is perhaps most surprising and encouraging in the Journal‘s piece is a poll showing that not only is support for marriage at an all time high, it has also increased dramatically among some unexpected and significant groups: The most-recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll suggests that views on gay marriage are shifting faster than for any other hot-button social issue in recent memory, pollsters say. Forty-nine percent of Americans now say they approve of gay marriage, up from 40% shortly after Mr. Obama took office in 2009. Mr. Obama’s stated stance makes him part of the 8% of respondents who are unsure how they feel about gay marriage, according to the poll released last week. The poll showed the biggest jump among blue-collar voters and African Americans, two key Democratic constituencies. Support among blue-collar voters jumped 20 percentage points to 49%. African-American support for gay marriage rose from 32% to 50%. More than half of Hispanics and voters aged 18 to 34 also voiced support. Mr. Obama’s advisers have closely watched the changing views among African-Americans and Hispanics. If these trends hold up, this could be big news for the marriage movement, not just in terms of the President’s position but also the greater political landscape itself. African-American, Hispanic and blue-collar voters are important to the President’s reelection strategy, but if support for marriage among those groups is growing, a choice by the President to fully endorse marriage equality becomes much less risky. More importantly, it means that the political majority that favors marriage is not only growing, but becoming more diverse. It is both rare and thrilling to be living in a time when attitudes on this issue are changing so quickly in the direction of equal rights and justice. President Obama isn’t the only one losing ground for his justification about staying out of the marriage debate. As attitudes continue to change, politicians across the political spectrum will lose that justification as well