When Californians voted for Proposition 8, providing for a state-wide ban on same sex marriage, exit polls showed that 7 out of 10 black voters supported the measure. Gallup has followed this up with an analysis of its polling data from May 2006, May 2007 and May 2008 showing that on this issue, black Democrats are as conservative as Republicans.
Thirty-one percent of black Democrats said that homosexual relations are morally acceptable compared to 61 percent of non-black Democrats and 55 percent of Democrats overall. That number put them more in line with Republicans among whom only 30 percent found such relations morally acceptable.
Black Democrats were also closer to Republicans than non-black Democrats on a number of other so-called moral issues:
- Thirty-eight percent of black Democrats said having a baby outside marriage was morally acceptable, a number comparable to Republicans (39 percent). Sixty-four percent of non-black Democrats said this was morally acceptable.
- Forty-six percent of black Democrats and Republicans said sex between an unmarried man and woman was acceptable. That compared to 68 percent of non-black Democrats who said it was acceptable.
- Fifty-six percent of black Democrats found stem cell research using human embryos morally acceptable, a figure closer to the Republican number of 48 percent than to non-black Democrats (76 percent).
This similarity of views between black Democrats and Republicans does not carry over to abortion and the death penalty.
- Thirty-seven percent of black Democrats say abortion is morally acceptable, lower than the 59 percent of non-black Democrats who believe that, but higher than the 25 percent of Republicans who do.
- Forty-seven percent of black Democrats say the death penalty is morally acceptable, compared to 59 percent of non-black Democrats and 80 percent of Republicans.
Gallup attributes these results, in part, to the fact that black Democrats are more religious than their fellow non-black Democrats. Seventy-six percent of black Democrats attend church weekly, almost weekly or monthly compared to 50 percent of nonblack Democrats.
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Comments
The article states that Black Democrats are closer to non-black Democrats than Republicans on abortion. But the figures show they are substantially closer to Republicans -- a 12-point difference (37 to 25 percent) with Republicans versus a 22-point difference with non-black Democrats (59-37 percent). Is this political spin or incompetent reporting? Either way, it's not what I've come to expect from CQ.
Posted by: tundra
| December 4, 2008 10:49 AM
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