By LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer Lisa Leff, Associated Press Writer – Thu Dec 4, 3:36 am ET
SAN FRANCISCO – Voters' economic status and religious convictions played a greater role than race and age in determining whether they supported the Nov. 4 ballot measure outlawing same-sex marriage in California, a new poll shows.
The ban drew its strongest support from both evangelical Christians and voters who didn't attend college, according to results released Wednesday by the Public Policy Institute of California.
Age and race, meanwhile, were not as strong factors as assumed. According to the poll, 56 percent of voters over age 55 and 57 percent of nonwhite voters cast a yes ballot for the gay marriage ban.
People who identified themselves as practicing Christians were highly likely to support the constitutional amendment, with 85 percent of evangelical Christians, 66 percent of Protestants and 60 percent of Roman Catholics favoring it.
The poll also showed that the measure got strong backing from voters who did not attend college (69 percent), voters who earned less than $40,000 a year (63 percent) and Latinos (61 percent).
The proposition, which passed with 52 percent of the vote, overturned the state Supreme Court's May decision legalizing gay marriage in California. The measure inserts language into the constitution limiting marriage to one man and one woman.
The poll found that, overall, 48 percent of voters oppose the idea of making gay marriage legal. Forty-seven percent support it, while 5 percent are undecided.
The results mirror previous PPIC polls from the last three years, suggesting that the $73 million spent for and against the measure did not do much to change public attitudes on allowing gay couples to wed, said survey director Mark Baldassare.
"At no point in time, before or after the election, did we have a majority of Californians saying they supported gay marriage," Baldassare said. "My takeaway from this is that until there is a major shift in public opinion one way or another, it's going to be another issue where voters are deeply divided."
Geoffrey Kors, executive director of the gay rights group Equality California, said the PPIC poll demonstrates that same-sex marriage advocates "need to make inroads in every category. If 2 percent of voters had voted differently, we would have had a different result," he said.
The poll was based on a phone survey of 2,003 California voters in the Nov. 4 election who were interviewed from Nov. 5-6. The sampling error was plus or minus 2 percentage points.
OK, I know times are tough. I am fortunate that I haven't lost a job like some others, but something in this story seems a little out of sorts. From the title, I expected to see a soup line, where people were waiting for a daily ration to survive for the day. However, the overall message I am getting here is that these people aren't lining up for food because they are starving, but because they can't put together a "proper", traditional Thanksgiving dinner with turkey and pumpkin pie (watch closely the items being placed into boxes). Only in America could we declare a "food crisis" because some might not be able to have turkey for Thanksgiving instead of a bologna sandwich.
"Now, in the last seven years," in this country, ladies and gentlemen, "we have had the highest corporate profit ever in American history. Highest corporate profit! We've had the highest productivity." We've also had the highest corporate taxes! "We've had the highest productivity. The American worker has produced more per person at any time," in these last seven years. "But it hasn't been shared, and that's the problem, because we've been guided by Republican administration who believes in the simplistic notion that people who have wealth are the -- are entitled to keep it and they have an antipathy towards the means of redistributing wealth."
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Congratulations, America, on your new balance of power.
1. I silently count every step I walk up or down. I have always done this.
2. I once had a dream that I was Yogi Bear.
3. I am terrified of needles. I can be cut with a knife or a saw (both have happened) and watch myself bleed with no problem, but the thought of a needle piercing my body is more than I can take.
4. On a similar note to #3, about 4 years ago I became nauseated and passed out in my boss's office after he told me a graphic story about a surgical procedure he went through. I hit the floor and scraped a big patch of skin off my forehead. It really scared my boss. He thought I was dead. I don't talk to him about his nasty medical issues anymore.
5. I can play the guitar, banjo, and piano. I hope to learn to play the clarinet.
6. My favorite ice cream is mint chip.
7. I own a 50-year-old gas pump that has a TV and VCR in it. I have a 60-year-old gas pump in my basement that I am slowly restoring. If anybody wants to buy a gas pump, let me know.
8. My first-ever flight was a school field trip in 5th grade. We flew from Los Angeles to Sacramento to visit the capitol for the day. Jerry Brown was governor at that time.
Nathan and Macy love Mint Chip the pest too. You should start a club. I had to have some blood drawn at my dr's appointment the other day and it took the lady six times and about 40 minutes to find a vein that did not pop. I told her about you and said that what I just experienced would be your version of Hell.
I'm not a huge McCain fan, but I appreciate this video.
Yes, this video has been edited to highlight the stutters of Obama, but doesn't detract from the fact that he stuttered and stumbled for about 4 minutes in a lame attempt "answer" the question from Rick Warren: "At what point does a baby get human rights?"
