Question: Gay Marriage and Votes for Bush*

[imax2268]

When he defended marriage in the SOTU address...which basically was a slap in the face of the gay community...did he lose a ton of votes because of it...?

Or will some still vote for BushCo anyway...?

[arewethereyet]

1. republican votes ? not a one

democrat votes, probably picked some up. RC folks are highly conflicted over this. They generally think left but are faced with how to rationalize a dem vote against their religeon.

[imax2268]

2. yea...

it just seems to me that by giving the gay community that slap in the face like that...he lost millions(or whatever the population of gay's is)of their votes...

[coloktm]

3. What???

How many gays did you think were votin' for him before that? And if they were...will sayging they can't get married change it?

[Homer12]

4. Bush made a major political mistake

He alienated a large voting block. Sure he has the fundamentalist bigoted wacko's, but he just has "polerized the homosexual vote" against him, as well as tolerant hetero's as well.

My guess is that homosexual's that didn't vote last election will now.

[imax2268]

5. thank you...

that's what I was getting at...

he pretty much alienated a large number of potential voters in the gay community and probably has angered many gay's to vote for the first time...against him...!

[SinkingInTheRain]

6. About the same number as JFK lost

Since Bush and JFK vote the same against gay weddings I'd say it's a draw.

[Silverhair]

7. He gained votes. Here are some BRUTAL FACTS.

These are the brutal facts:

67% of the general voting populace is opposed to gay marriage. Almost all of the 33% that favor gay marriage are ALREADY DEMOCRATS.
The RW base and the swing voters are almost completely opposed.

Yes, there really are people who vote Democrat one time and Republican the next, and vice versa. They really do exist. Just because someone voted for Gore in 2000 DOES NOT automatically make them a hard core DU-participating yellow dog Democrat. And the swing voters ALWAYS decide the election.

Further, Blacks are 75% opposed to gay marriage. Latinos are almost completely strongly Roman Catholic. I would hope that you already know that church's stance on the issue. Further, the famous Latino machismo leaves little room for gays. We only need to lose a few percentage points of our base to get badly hurt.

Sorry, but those are facts, and those facts add up a great wedge issue for the Reps. They control ALL the committees in the congress and will be able to bring the FMA to a floor vote this year. For the Reps it is a safe vote. For many Democrats it will be a dangerous vote.

Also, remember the POTUS election is decided by the electoral college. If W loses some votes in a strong blue state over this issue he hasn't hurt himself at all. But if he picks up some votes in a marginal blue state, then he would have the election in the bag.

This is an strong emotional issue, and logic doesn't help a whole lot here. It's what's called a "hot button" issue. It gets people all inflamed and motivated. And getting lots of people motivated on an issue that is 67% against us is NOT the way to win elections.

[DeepModem Mom]

8. Fox News is reporting gay marriage almost non-stop --

the Repubs will beat us with this stick from now until November. It's not fair to gays, it's not fair to Democrats, but it will bring out W's fundie base in droves. They will vote with this in mind, in my opinion, even if they are working two part-time jobs in order to scrape by, and have a kid deployed in Iraq.

[dusty64]

9. Believe it or not, its

estimated that 1.5 million gay people voted for our regime in 2000, I'd like to think he will not be getting most of these again. Anyone who would vote rethug purely on anti-gay bias would probably be voting for him anyway.

[Silverhair]

10. Wishful thinking.

Swing voters really do exist. There really are people, lots of them, who are evenly balanced between Dem & Rep, and waver back and forth. For a bunch of those, this will be issue that tips the scales, and since the overwhelming majority of swing voters are against gay marriage, the issue becomes a political loser for us.

[dusty64]

11. In spite of our

economy teetering on the abyss and foreign quagmires around the globe. Not to mention scandals and crimes beyond imagination and a government that has not done ONE thing to benefit the People or the Country and voters are going to vote solely on the "gay boogeyman" fear. I highly doubt it.
Of course, this is the Democrats to lose. This whole thing could be easily dealt with and the fact it hasn't been leaves me with serious doubts about our apparent nominee (this is just one of the reasons). All that needs to be said is that the Constitution is NOT to be messed with in order to discriminate and divide! The extreme right is creating another diversion so that they do NOT have to discuss their record and the messes they have made. NOW lets get back to the economy, environment, healthcare, and how to solve our disasters overseas!

[Silverhair]

12. Emotional issues are not subject to logic.

That's why they are called "hot button" issues. If everyone approached this logically, it would be easy, and a nonissue. But this one will not be approached logically. It will be a highly emotionally charged issue, and for SOME swing voters, it will be the issue that tips their personal scales. NO, I DIDN'T SAY FOR ALL VOTERS. I SAID FOR SOME SWING VOTERS. But some swing voters is all that it will take.