NEW POLLING DATA

The latest polling from Annenberg’s Public Policy Center on the religious right amendment to the Constitution to ban marriage for gays shows that the public opposes the amendment 48 to 41 percent. The highest opposition is in the West and Northeast but the Midwest opposes it by 47 to 41 percent. The under 30s oppose it by 58 percent to 30 percent. Only those over 65 support it. And that’s despite majorities against marriage rights for gays in general. Bush has therefore decided to move the marriage issue from a context in which he gets majority support to a position where he splits the country down the middle. More genius from Karl Rove. Rove has now succeeded in ensuring that almost no gay people will vote for or support the Republican party for a generation. And it was completely avoidable.