For those tempted to blame gays for this

[dsc]

In 2008 gays made up 4% of the electorate and voted 70% for Obama vs 27% for McCain. In 2010, gays made up 3% of the electorate and voted 68% for a Democratic House vs 30% for a GOP House. There was some movement by gays from 2008, but not much and all within the MOE of the poll or rounding of the subgroups. It is highly unlikely we cost many seats. You will need to look elsewhere for the blame.

http://abcnews.go.com/PollingUnit/ExitPolls2008#Pres_All

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2010/results/polls/#val=USH00p2

In 2006, we were 3% of the electorate and split 75 to 24.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2006/pages/results/states/US/H/00/epolls.0.html

Bottom line there was likely a small amount of erosion of support (7% is still within the MOE but on the edge) but this small amount of erosion is dwarfed by the actual results.

In 06 we won 53 to 45 while in 10 we lost 51 to 46.

[QC]

1. Those so tempted will gladly give in to the temptation. They always do.

Just as they are already unreccing this thread.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

10. Maybe it's just me

But from up in the cheap seats it looked as if gays were ignored, almost brutally so.

I don't even remember any on the GOP side making civil rights for gays a real issue. By that I mean immigration was their biggest bogey man in the social debate.

If gays do get blamed it will be the great convergence between sacrificial lambs and scapegoats.

Sadly, the representatives we elected have done a real bang-up job of ignoring a vital, contributing part of our movement.

[QC]

21. That is true. The "Meskins" are now the GOP's favorite target,

but that has not stopped Blue Dog icon Evan Bayh from blaming attention to DADT for costing us the election.

Old habits are hard to break, I guess.

[WillParkinson]

2. Logic will not work here...

Some people, and hopefully not many, will look to scapegoat whomever they can.

[whistler162]

36. Which is why hiding this illogical thread is the only option!

[happi1]

3. wtf

Are there cats out there blaming gays for election results?????

[dsc]

5. this is preemptive

but I would bet we have many who will.

[QC]

6. It's an old and cherished DU tradition.

We are blamed for every electoral defeat here. We are too shrill, too demanding, etc. We made John Kerry lose by wanting to get married. We ruined the buzz around here by "whining" over Proposition 8. Etc.

Like I said, an old and cherished tradition.

[happi1]

9. oic

Well it aint that much of an election thang...Holder and them cats may be out there doing there thing with the dadt thing but that is more of a grand strategic thang.


Weird...blame the moon : ) hugs

[happi1]

11. typo4ever

inb4 pointing out my obvious typing nightmare above : )

[pinboy3niner]

15. That never even occurred to me

:wtf:

Edited; to add: Welcome to DU, happi1!

:hi:

[happi1]

19. yay

Yay! Welcoming is like a big rsa hug!

I love hugs.

[HillbillyBob]

4. I may have been unhappy with the Ds, but I DID go vote

Enthusiasm or not.

REALLY disgusted and stupefied this morning.

Too bad I have to be functional today or I would be absent.

[whyverne]

7. Damn gays caused low voter turnout in PA! n/t

[Skidmore]

8. Haven't seen anyone say that here, only you

making an assumption.

[dsc]

12. an assumption based on lots and lots of DU experience

do I really have to drag out the 02 and 04 threads were we were repeatedly blamed or for that matter the threads from just a day or two ago? Do I really have to drag those out? Don't call me a liar, which you implicitly did or I will embarass your ass.

[Lex]

59. +1

[FreeState]

43. I cant do a call out post but there are several if you look around

[WinkyDink]

13. Is that a gay straw-man I see before my eyes?

[dsc]

14. again

I can find the pages and pages of threads blaming gays for both 02 and 04 or for that matter the threads of the past couple of days. Don't call me a liar, I will embarrass you if you do.

[happi1]

16. cuz

One thing I have found over the years is there is a lot of dumbassery in any online community dynamic. -shrug-

Things all in time

[WinkyDink]

22. Go ahead, embarrass me. However, it needs to be a THREAD OP, not merely some comments by who-knows-

whom.

There ARE DU quislings.

[dsc]

25. I will when I get home

I am at work and this is literally my last free time until 5 pm or so.

[letterwriter]

17. I wouldn't blame gays - I would blame Obama

If I were gay and got screwed by Obama on DADT I might have stayed home.

[mstinamotorcity]

18. Has anyone blamed gays

Why bring it up????just asking??

[QC]

20. Is this your first election on DU? n/t

[mstinamotorcity]

23. No

Look I just asked a question. I have not seen anyone yet with that conversation. And I don't really think members here at DU feel like that at this time.I think we are more amazed at the quickness and surity of the Repugs that we smell shit in the game. Not that our LGBT community was inactive. Because we know that when it comes down to it you will vote your conscience no matter what. Only small minds would be that closed. And yes I have seen negative comments before I just haven't seen them this morning. Everything cool???

[QC]

24. I was asking an honest question. I'm not trying to be snide.

Every time we have lost an election, some people here (typically the same ones every time) have claimed that The Gays made it happen. For some people, it's as much a tradition as pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving.

I think dsc is being pre-emptive here.

FWIW, Evan Bayh has already started it, saying that last night's electoral disaster was a result of giving in to the party's left by worrying about things like DADT. (Couldn't have anything to do with selling out to the corporate interests, of course, since that's what bayh's entire career has been all about.)

[mstinamotorcity]

27. Well he has

10 million reasons to say anything!!!!!!!!

[QC]

28. That is true. What a sleaze. Worse than Zell Miller. n/t

[mstinamotorcity]

30. And I know he can't be

the only one. A lot of those Senators and Congressmen have Big Campaign war chests full. There were quite a few retired. How much did they get??????

[WinkyDink]

34. Evan Bayh is not on this board.

[mstinamotorcity]

41. I didn't bring him up

Someone else did. They happened to be informing me that he brought up the subject and not someone on DU.

[WinkyDink]

70. My reply was to Post #24.

[HughMoran]

39. This thread introduced the concept here in this election cycle

[dsc]

44. that is a bald faced untruth

we have repeatedly been told, as in over and over again, that bringing up gay rights would cost us this election. It has been a recurring theme.

[HughMoran]

55. Pretty bold proclamation

I haven't seen one, neither has this person below: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9459405&mesg_id=9466712

[FreeState]

47. There were several AP articles blaming the GLBT community just days ago n/t

[dsc]

67. thank you but I am a delusional liar

so you must be too.

[Yo_Mama]

26. Those tempted to blame gays

... just have an ugly agenda of their own or a screw loose in their subconscious.

Gays had nothing to do with this. At all. There's not a shred of evidence for that claim. There is a huge amount of evidence - polling, the lack of gay-oriented propositions and so forth - to suggest that gays were not at all an issue in this election.

And the number of gays in the country is not big enough to produce this type of turn even if they all switched votes. Nor are gay people somehow insulated from all the problems that are floating around.

If anything, it seems as if the difficult economic times have produced an additional amount of sympathy for gays. The country is suffering, and even though we can't be sure we'll get our own SS, it seems as if way more people want gays to get whatever the rest of us can get.

If there is one issue which is not really dividing the country at this time, it's gay rights.

[johnnie]

29. Never even crossed my mind n/t

[KittyWampus]

31. Posting this is seriously passive aggressive behavior.

[dkf]

32. Don't know why you think gays are beng blamed.

Weird.

[bullwinkle428]

33. Hal Sparks made a remark about apathetic gays not voting in Illinois,

thus allowing Mark Kirk to get elected - heard this morning on the Stephanie Miller show.

[WinkyDink]

35. Hal Sparks is not on this board.

[Ignis]

60. I believe the OP title is "For those tempted..." not "For those DUers tempted..."

:shrug:

[WinkyDink]

69. "For those" is the common ellipsis for "For those of you." In any event, the OP says the threads are

on DU. See Post #13.

[U4ikLefty]

51. I heard it too too...gonna turn Steph off anytime I hear that jerk on her show.

I blame has-been comedians for the losses.

Damn,that pissed me off soo much.

[dionysus]

37. who's doing that?

:shrug:

[Name removed]

46. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[FreeState]

48. Not true at all -

We cant post links but if you think real hard were gays might hang out on DU go look there and you will find several posts. You can also do a search over the last two weeks for articles blaming LGBT americans before the election even happened.

[seabeyond]

38. in all the threads i have been in, thankfully not seeing one person blame gays. nt

[Uzybone]

40. good lawd...I guess its never too early to sow discord.

[Ikonoklast]

42. Starting a fist fight in a haunted house.

The only person who's mentioned this is...you.


You need three nails, or did you bring your own?

[Name removed]

45. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[FreeState]

49. Not true - we cant call out threads but there are several post that do just that n/t

[scheming daemons]

50. I've read almost every thread the past 24 hours.... bullshit

Individual posts within threads? Maybe.... but those are just agent provocateurs.

[CakeGrrl]

52. Exactly. Aren't there enough fights around here without picking another? n/t

[U4ikLefty]

53. No true Scotsman would post such threads

eh?

[Ignis]

61. Nailed it in one.

:thumbsup:

[FreeState]

54. LOL - well you have missed a few then n/t

[WinkyDink]

71. I'm awaiting links.

[dsc]

73. Have you read GD either yesterday or today?

I think you owe me a big ass apology, not that I am expecting one.

[Naturyl]

56. Blame gays? Never crossed my mind.

Not sure why it would anyone else's, either.

[BR_Parkway]

57. Wait - no sparkly ponies again? damn, I'm tired of voting for candidates

who don't deliver on their promises...

You know rational analysis will never take the place for many who need a scapegoat to justify what they think they already know.

[ej510]

58. Gays weren't the only ones who stayed home.

[Name removed]

65. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[nadinbrzezinski]

62. Don;t worry there is space down here

with the profesional left.

For god sakes the greens are already getting blamed AGAIN.

Do you want your spot by the wheel, or the exhaust pipe? I am trying to decide where is the safest...

[DevonRex]

63. I blame people who didn't vote for Dems. nt

[lumberjack_jeff]

64. Well since you brought it up...

... uh well, why DID you bring it up? I haven't heard anyone blame it on gays any more than any other group.

It is the candidate's fault if people don't support them. Not the supporters.

[cbdo2007]

66. I only blame gays if they voted Republican.

Hell, I blame everyone who voted Republican, gay or straight.

[pgodbold]

68. As a gay man I've been blamed for shit all my life. You think I give a damn about blame for this? nt

[dsc]

72. so to all those who called me a delusional liar

still think so?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9476983

Funny how not a single, solitary person who took me to task for my thread has found a spare minute to comment in that one. Gee, wonder why.