News

New National Poll Shows Majority Opposing Anti-Family Amendment

Discriminatory Amendment Won't Help Bush Re-election Campaign or Congressional Republicans

February 26, 2004

(Washington, DC) – Log Cabin Republicans released results from a new national poll showing Americans deeply divided over the anti-family Constitutional amendment. This poll was conducted for the Liberty Education Forum – a non-partisan research and educational think-tank. "This new poll clearly shows American voters want states to have the authority to decide this difficult issue. Voters are concerned about creating jobs and jump starting the economy. They don't want our politicians using the Constitution as a political tool to discriminate against gay and lesbian families," said Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director Patrick Guerriero.

The survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted by the GOP firm who handled polling for Senator Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign.

"The bottom line here is simple. America is divided on this anti-family Constitutional amendment, whether they're Republicans, Democrats, or independents. There's no consensus for writing discrimination into the Constitution. American voters are split on this issue, but they're united in their belief that lawmakers should focus on more important issues. Voters care about jobs, homeland defense, and healthcare. They don't care about an anti-family Constitutional amendment," said Guerriero.

Only 3% of voters cite "banning gay marriage" as an issue priority for them in deciding their Presidential vote. Nine other issues are more important to voters. "The President would be wise to focus his re-election campaign on the issues that matter most. Clearly this amendment isn't one of them," said Guerriero.

This research shows 50% of Americans oppose a Constitutional amendment that will take away individual states' rights to pass laws governing same sex unions. 42% support the anti-family proposal. Even among frequent church-goers and Bush voters, almost 40% oppose the anti-family amendment. Among those voters who describe themselves as most concerned about moral issues, 1/3 are opposed to an amendment. Almost 75% of likely voters, including two-thirds of Bush voters, believe this amendment is only being used as a political football.

"These numbers show how much division exists on the anti-family amendment. By starting a culture war, President Bush is dividing America and alienating the swing voters who will decide this election. Graffiti shouldn't be written into our sacred Constitution as a way of scoring political points in an election year," continued Guerriero.

This poll shows Senator Kerry leading President Bush 47% to 41%. Pushing an anti-family Constitutional amendment won't help the President make up his deficit. Moreover, among those voters undecided between President Bush and Senator Kerry, NONE cite "banning gay marriage" as an issue priority. Even among President Bush's voters, only 4% cite this issue as a priority. Two-thirds of undecided voters list economics, Medicare, social security or education as their top priorities. "The President should focus on these issues, not something his own Vice-President said should be left to the states," said Guerriero.

Among Bush's strongest supporters – evangelical Christians and people most concerned about moral issues – President Bush already receives 85% support. "The tiny increase Bush might get from pushing this anti-family amendment will be offset by the moderates who will be turned off by this culture war," says Guerriero.

"The unnecessary focus on social issues is hurting our party, including Congressional Republicans," continued Guerriero. The poll shows Democrats enjoying a significant advantage on the generic question of which party's Congressional candidate they'll support. Respondents give Democrats a 10 point advantage. The Democrats' advantage is driven by "jobs/economy" voters, "Social Security and Medicare" voters and "education" voters. "Amending the Constitution to discriminate against gay families won't help Congressional Republicans. Voters care about jobs, social programs and education. They want lawmakers to focus on the issues they care about," continued Guerriero.

"Log Cabin Republicans will be using the results of this poll to launch a coordinated national campaign in the weeks ahead to defend our Constitution from those who want to use it as a political tool to discriminate against American families," said Guerriero.

The poll was conducted by Fabrizio, McLaughlin and Associates which is widely recognized as one of the leading Republican public opinion research firms in the U.S. today. The firm served as chief pollsters in Senator Bob Dole's 1996 Presidential bid and has worked for a dozen U.S. Senators, numerous Governors and Statewide elected officials as well as scores of Congressman.

This survey of 1000 Likely Voters was conducted by professionally trained interviewers via telephone between February 17th and 19th. Sample selection was random within predetermined geographic units and the sample frame was stratified to reflect actual Presidential election turnout. This survey has a margin of error of +/-3.1% at the 95% confidence level.

The Liberty Education Forum (LEF) is a non-partisan educational think-tank based in Washington, DC. LEF develops new insights and ideas on the issues affecting gay and lesbian Americans.