The Des Moines Register released the Iowa Poll’s results on gay marriage on Monday. The headline read “Iowa Poll: Iowans evenly divided on gay marriage ban.”
Iowans are almost evenly divided about whether they would vote for or against a constitutional amendment to end marriage for same-sex couples, according to The Des Moines Register’s new Iowa Poll.
Forty-one percent say they would vote for a ban, and 40 percent say they would vote to continue gay marriage. The rest either would not vote or say they are not sure.
The most intensity about the issue shows up among opponents. The percentage of Iowans who say they strongly oppose gay marriage (35 percent) is nearly double the percentage who say they strongly favor it (18 percent).
The overwhelming majority of Iowans – 92 percent – say gay marriage has brought no real change to their lives.
A July TIR poll took a different tack and asked, should Iowa voters have a chance to vote on a traditional marriage amendment or let the Iowa Supreme Court decide – 67% said yes, but they also noted this was in line with other polls.
Bryan English, the Director of Public Relations for the Iowa Family Policy Center told TheIowaRepublican.com, “The results of the poll on marriage conducted by TheIowaRepublican.com mirror the results of a similar poll conducted for internal use by the Iowa Family Policy Center. Public opinion on marriage is consistently a 65 – 70% issue, and the numbers tell us that Iowans want the right to vote on the Iowa Marriage Amendment. How the political class responds to these numbers will help separate the wheat from the chaff among those who seek office in 2010.”
I suppose the difference is the question. One poll asked whether you are in favor of gay marriage, the other poll asked whether or not we should have a vote. It would be reasonable to conclude that some who said yes in the TIR poll also said yes to the Iowa Poll. They just feel that voters, not the Iowa Supreme Court should decide.
The question in the Iowa Poll that asked whether or not gay marriage has brought real change to their lives is irrelevant. I would have said no it hasn’t. That was never the point. Unless you know somebody who this impacts personally or are involved in it’s implementation why would it bring real change to your life? I said in a post after the decision that the sky wasn’t falling, but it is still a bad decision and one that should be up to the voters – not a judicial oligarchy.
Another issue is should we trust this poll? Why should we assume they don’t have ulterior motives. The Register’s Kathie Obradovich questioned Republican commissioned polls, as did Michael Kiernan the chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party, so perhaps we should assume the Register is spinning this poll as well.
Some things to consider. First, we are in the midst of a recession so the economy is at the forefront, and it is important. That doesn’t mean people don’t care at all about this issue. The Iowa Poll does clearly show there are more people strongly opposed to gay marriage than strongly against.
Second, the Register has come out numerous times if favor of the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision. That reflects bias, so how can they say they aren’t biased and the Republican Party is. I mean we do have some in our party who don’t care about this issue. Can they say the same about their editorial board?
Third, while there may be a even split (I still very much doubt that), it is clear that a majority wants the Iowa Supreme Court to decide this issue – only 27% percent of Iowans wanted that.
So regardless of what this poll says – let us vote!