Some Democrats in Congress may soon press for repeal of the military "don't ask, don't tell" gay ban, an issue that Obama would rather not come up, suggests The Politico. But some anti-gay activists are eager to take it on, thinking it will be a winner for them. They might want to consider what a straw poll of 1,750 conservatives (of whom nearly 60% were college age) at last weekend's CPAC confab in the nation's capital showed. Look what issue least motivates them. (Okay, if you don't want to open the nifty PowerPoint, the answer is: only 1% indicated "letting gays serve openly in the military" was the Democrats' initiative they most feared, whereas "expanding government with new spending programs" was #1, with 36%).
Also at CPAC, a panel sponsored by PajamasTV looked at finding common ground, including the question Marriage? Civil Unions? Is There a Compromise? (click on the link and keep scrolling, using the orange arrow way over on the right, to find this segment, and then click on the title). Glenn Reynolds, blogger at InstaPundit.com, said his ideal world is one in which "happily married gay couples have closets full of assault weapons." (Hat tip: Rick Sincere)
2 Comments for “The Conservative Divide”
posted by TS on
This poll isn’t tremendously informative. For example, the results could mean that for all conservatives, the issue of gays in the military is ranked between 2 and 5. Not that that’s likely, but that’s a poor way to do the survey. They should have asked respondents to rank the topics or put them in tiers.
posted by Carl on
There is such a belief that gays in the military as an issue will hurt Democrats, so for political reasons, I think even those on the right who don’t care about this issue will use it as a weapon. The media loves to use any gay-related issue to try to stir people into a frenzy, and to try to make people believe Obama is going to be a replay of Clinton’s first 2 years. That means we’re probably going to see a full-court press against gays in the military. I can’t see Obama going near the issue. It’s sad that a large majority of the public support allowing gays in the military, and the military needs new recruits, yet the cowardice and scapegoating of politicians and the social conservatism of the military means it will never happen.