The blogosphere has been abuzz with the recent poll by Daily Kos/Research 2000 that points a not so favorable view of the Republican Party. The way the poll looks it gives a picture a party filled with bigoted know-nothings.
This poll has bothered me for a lot of reasons. As a gay Republican who is a moderate, it felt like yet another slam against the party that makes one wonder why one should stay. It has also bothered me because I know a lot of Republicans and none of them seem as crazy as this poll suggests.
Now, I have some reservations of a poll that was commissioned by a partisan website, but as David Adesnik notes, that doesn’t mean it isn’t true.
However, I also don’t think the poll tells the whole story. As David notes a recent Gallup polls shows that more Republicans and conservatives favor dropping Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the policy that bans gays from serving openly in the military.This is what David reported from that Gallup poll:
In November 2004, 52% of Republicans supported gays serving openly in the military. In May 2009, the number was up to 58%.
In the Kos poll, only 24 percent of Republicans supported overturning DADT. So what explains an over 30 percent difference?
In 2007, Log Cabin Republicans conducted a poll on what Republicans think when it comes to gay issues. I wrote a blog post on it because the results seemed so surprising to me. This is what they find out on various issues:
Gays in the military:
49% of Republicans believe gays and lesbians should be able to serve openly in the U.S. military, while 42% are opposed.Gay marriage:
43% of Republicans support either marriage equality or civil unions. 51% oppose all relationship recognition. “There’s much more work to be done educating Republicans about this issue, but we’re encouraged that almost half of Republicans support basic fairness for gay and lesbian families,” said Sammon.Employment:
an overwhelming 77% of Republicans believe an employer should not have the right to fire an employee based solely on their sexual orientation. Even among social conservatives, 67% don’t believe an employer should be able to fire someone for being gay.
The Kos poll has the following numbers on some gay issues:
Gays in the Military:
26% yes
55% no
19% not sureGay Marriage:
7% yes
77% no
16% not sureState Benefits for Gays:
11% yes
68% no
21% not sureGays as teachers:
8% yes
73% no
19% not sure
While you can’t compare apples to pears, I do have to wonder why the two polls have such a wide disparity. I’m not a pollster and I don’t have a background in statistics. (You can read some opinions by some real pollsters here, hereand here.) But I do wonder why these polls are painting different pictures of the GOP.
What I can say is that the Kos poll in many ways tended to bolster the opinion of those on the Left and a few former Republicans that the Republican Party is full of nuts. Andrew Sullivan and Bruce Barlett have already made their conclusions.
I’m not here to say that some of the issues brought up in the Kos poll aren’t real problems for the GOP. Republicans needs to be more gay friendly and more welcoming of immigrants. But I have a hard time believing that most of the people I hang out with that are Republicans are as vile as the poll suggests.
I think the poll might show a sliver of the GOP, but I also think the 2007 Log Cabin poll does as well. That’s the ting with reality: it’s a lot more complicated than our imaginations. The sad thing is that the general public will focus on the Kos poll, not the Log Cabin poll or even the Gallup poll.
Twenty years ago this summer, I went to Washington, DC to intern with my congressman. While I was there, I met a guy named Dan from Arkansas. We hit it off and became good friends. He was also one of the first real Republicans I met. I was a blue-collar black kid from Michigan which meant I came from a Democratic household. Republicans were bad people in my mind. But here was this guy who became a friend, who happened to be a Republican. Dan doesn’t know this, but he helped humanize Republicans and allowed me to ultimately become one.
I share this because I tend to think we like to deal with stereotypes rather than real people. Democrats are not commie lovers and Republicans are not fascists. We are all just people. It would be nice if stopped to actually get to know each other.