REVISIONIST HISTORY: Maggie Gallagher

Many pundits, including gay marriage activists like Andrew Sullivan, but also other pro-gay marriage conservatives and liberals, are eager to explain why the gay marriage issue was really not so bad for the Dems. Some argue "moral values" is just a catchall, which of course doesn't explain why it suddenly shot up to the (plurality) top of the voters list this year--in the middle of a mediocre economy, a war on terror, and a ground war in Iraq--splitting 80-20 for Pres. Bush.

Others argue (Andrew and George Will have both made this case) it's not really gay marriage that bothers voters but the San Francisco chaos. Gavin Newsom, a straight guy, is responsible, not gay marriage advocates. George Will also strikingly says that "Most Americans" oppose a constitutional amendment on marriage (or, as he puts it an "anti-same-sex marriage amendment").

I happened to be cleaning my desk yesterday and came across a memo from the Pew Research Center dated July 12, 2004 and "Reading the Polls on Gay Marriage and the Constitution."

Their conclusion: "Recent polls on a possible constitutional amendment to prohibit gay marriage have yielded very different results, with support as low as 36% and as high as 60 percent."

Here's the catch: To get the low result, you have to ask voters if they want a constitutional amendment to "ban gay marriage." To get the high results, you have to ask questions like "Would you favor or oppose an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would allow marriage ONLY between a man and a woman?"

Which is fairer or truer? You decide.

posted by Eve at 8:41 PM VOTE

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