Quinnipiac Poll: Support for gay marriage drops considerably + terror stuff

[Tender Branson]

over the past weeks:

In general, do you support or oppose same-sex marriage?

45% support
47% oppose

was 50-41 support in their April poll.

...

Other stuff from the poll:

Which punishment do you prefer for people convicted of murder; the death penalty or life in prison with no chance of parole?

48% death penalty
43% life without parole

In general, do you think terrorist suspects should be tried in civilian courts or military courts?

58% Military courts
30% Civilian courts

Do you think the American criminal justice system is capable of dealing with terrorism or do you believe it allows terrorist suspects too many rights?

53% Allows too many rights
35% System capable

In general, do you think people convicted of murder during an act of terrorism should receive the death penalty or life in prison with no chance of parole?

63% Death penalty
32% Life/no parole

If the alleged Boston marathon bomber is convicted of murder, do you think he should receive the death penalty or life in prison with no chance of parole?

59% Death penalty
36% Life/no parole

Some people say that since many alleged terrorists seek martyrdom, a sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole is a better punishment for them than the death penalty. Do you agree or disagree?

56% Disagree
37% Agree

Do you think there is more the government can do to prevent attacks like the one in Boston, or is there not much more the government can do to prevent this type of attack?

54% More gov can do
39% Not much more

Have the Boston marathon bombings changed your opinion regarding whether there should be a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants currently living in the United States?

23% Yes/Changed opinion
70% No

Do you think allowing more illegal immigrants who are living in the U.S. a path to citizenship would increase the likelihood of terrorism, decrease the likelihood of terrorism, or wouldn't it make a difference?

22% Increase likelihood
  7% Decrease likelihood
66% No difference

From April 25 - 29, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,471 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones.

http://www.quinnipiac.edu/institutes--centers/polling-institute/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=1891

[Franzl]

There really are a lot of HPs out there.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Scumbags.  What the hell happened?

Hopefully, the media coverage of the Boston terrorist investigations will overshadow this.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

over the past weeks:

In general, do you support or oppose same-sex marriage?

45% support
47% oppose

was 50-41 support in their April poll.

People were probably all like, "sure, why not, let 'em marry".... "Oh wait?!  They're actually gonna do it?!?"  Screw 'dem fags... not real 'Muricans if ya ask me!  Weren't dem brown Boston bombin' fellers a couple a homos?"

Sad but true. 

[Phony Moderate]

Support among African-Americans and older folks for SSM is unusually low (low 30s for the former and mid 20s for the latter).

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

The media focus on gay marriage and momentum among national figures ran out as compared to early April, so people on the fence aren't following the equivalent of a post-convention bounce in their answers.  This is probably where it's been the past few months if you were to take an actual vote.

[Link]

over the past weeks:

In general, do you support or oppose same-sex marriage?

45% support
47% oppose

was 50-41 support in their April poll.

People were probably all like, "sure, why not, let 'em marry".... "Oh wait?!  They're actually gonna do it?!?"  Screw 'dem fags... not real 'Muricans if ya ask me!  Weren't dem brown Boston bombin' fellers a couple a homos?"

Sad but true. 

Probably not true.  Just because someone says no to same sex marriage during a random phone poll doesn't mean they are a ignorant bigoted hick.  I doubt my mother would be for same sex marriage.  There were no homosexuals in her community growing up and she was pretty old before the idea that being gay was "normal" was even suggested to her.  Having said that she would never vote for someone purely because they were against same sex marriage.  She also would not be motivated to go to the polls to vote against same sex marriage.  If someone asked her what she thought of same sex marriage a few years ago she would give you a very confused look... the same look the vast majority of the planet would give you today.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

yeah the drop is probably due to it no longer being a top focus of the media.

[angus]

Probably not true. 

Ever notice how everywhere Captain Kirk goes in the Universe, the people he encounters always speak English?  They could be little green men or voluptuous, busty green babes.  They could be silicate brick people or incorporeal puffs of vapor, existing only as electricity.  Most have probably never heard of San Francisco or the United Federation of Planets, but somehow they can all speak English.

Suspension of disbelief is what the fiction analysts call it.  I just pretend that they have some sort of universal translator built into their communicators that rapidly learn all modes of communication and translate them into English for the captain and his crew.  

You sort of have to have that turned on when you post here.  Hockey's posts, for example, are almost always diabolical and hyperbolic.  For example, "Oh, hell no!  That guy is a child rapist.  He would probably rape you too without even having the common courtesy to give you a reach-around.  If he wins I'm moving to Andorra!" can be translated as "I will not be voting for him."  Similarly, "people were all like 'Screw dem fags...' " can be translated as "why can't everyone be as smart as I am.  If they were, they would see that there's no problem with same-sex marriage."  It's all very nuanced.  Of course it's not true.  Hockeydude understands this, despite his pretenses otherwise.

On another note, those are some pretty depressing results overall, don't you think?

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I love it when angus opens up the filling cabinet for his afternoon refreshment. 

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

Probably not true.  

Ever notice how everywhere Captain Kirk goes in the Universe, the people he encounters always speak English?  They could be little green men or voluptuous, busty green babes.  They could be silicate brick people or incorporeal puffs of vapor, existing only as electricity.  Most have probably never heard of San Francisco or the United Federation of Planets, but somehow they can all speak English.

Suspension of disbelief is what the fiction analysts call it.  I just pretend that they have some sort of universal translator built into their communicators that rapidly learn all modes of communication and translate them into English for the captain and his crew.  

You sort of have to have that turned on when you post here.  Hockey's posts, for example, are almost always diabolical and hyperbolic.  For example, "Oh, hell no!  That guy is a child rapist.  He would probably rape you too without even having the common courtesy to give you a reach-around.  If he wins I'm moving to Andorra!" can be translated as "I will not be voting for him."  Similarly, "people were all like 'Screw dem fags...' " can be translated as "why can't everyone be as smart as I am.  If they were, they would see that there's no problem with same-sex marriage."  It's all very nuanced.  Of course it's not true.  Hockeydude understands this, despite his pretenses otherwise.

On another note, those are some pretty depressing results overall, don't you think?

Thank you, angus... but that could have all been summed up as "I'm dicking around".  Nice analysis though.  

And "screw dem fags" is not "I'm smarter"... it's more that I feel Americans are homophobic once they think about it.  For a while they kinda just said... sure.  Then when all these reports of gay marriage coming up in the SCOTUS, and it may very well win... well, they go back to their old ways. 

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

People dislike Jason Collins that much?

[TNF]

Support among African-Americans and older folks for SSM is unusually low (low 30s for the former and mid 20s for the latter).

Not unusual when you consider that black Americans and older folks are more socially conservative than the population as a whole.

[Phony Moderate]

Support among African-Americans and older folks for SSM is unusually low (low 30s for the former and mid 20s for the latter).

Not unusual when you consider that black Americans and older folks are more socially conservative than the population as a whole.

I know, but both numbers are low even for those two groups. I recall polls last year showing at least a plurality of support among African-Americans.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

over the past weeks:

In general, do you support or oppose same-sex marriage?

45% support
47% oppose

was 50-41 support in their April poll.

People were probably all like, "sure, why not, let 'em marry".... "Oh wait?!  They're actually gonna do it?!?"  Screw 'dem fags... not real 'Muricans if ya ask me!  Weren't dem brown Boston bombin' fellers a couple a homos?"

Sad but true. 

Probably not true.  Just because someone says no to same sex marriage during a random phone poll doesn't mean they are a ignorant bigoted hick.  I doubt my mother would be for same sex marriage.  There were no homosexuals in her community growing up and she was pretty old before the idea that being gay was "normal" was even suggested to her.  Having said that she would never vote for someone purely because they were against same sex marriage.  She also would not be motivated to go to the polls to vote against same sex marriage.  If someone asked her what she thought of same sex marriage a few years ago she would give you a very confused look... the same look the vast majority of the planet would give you today.

I'm just having fun. 

[Blue3]

This poll is probably an outlier, something went wrong. In the 2012 election, 50-60% of African-Americans supported gay marriage.

[RI]

You guys put way too much stock into one data point. These issue polls bounce around a lot. I doubt support for gay marriage was that high before, and I somewhat doubt it is this low now.

[Joe Biden 2020]

That's not a big change from the April poll, but still I have a hard time believing it for reasons that realisticidealist pointed out.  They bounce around too much and Americans are not so much homophobic and bigoted as they are very fickle.  Most of the voters in that poll probably lick their finger and hold it up to the wind to decide what they want to believe.  I take no stock in that poll.

[Holmes]

Can't make too many conclusions from just one poll, especially when all other ones tell a different story. Opponents of same-sex marriage will be claiming victory of course, but it's wise to wait for other polls before jumping to conclusions.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Neither side can claim victory on this poll.  It's just one poll in a sea of others that tell a different story, on the other hand what if this poll starts a trend.  Both sides have to be very cautious.

[Holmes]

Gay marriage supporters never claim victory when it comes to public polling. Those who do are being naive.

[Lambsbread]

my god reading these results made me ill

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

It's worth noting that this is one poll.

[Lambsbread]

It's worth noting that this is one poll.

poor results nevertheless

[MaxQue]

It's worth noting that this is one poll.

poor results nevertheless

Hopefully, it's just an outlier. Even with proper weighting, you can get unlucky and fall on conservative people more than supposed.