Subject: [big campaign] New Gallup Poll: 58% of Conservatives now favor gays openly serving in Armed Forces
From: Aniello Alioto <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 2009 07:23:28 -0400
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

*Friends - Sounds like a great time to pile on!*

http://www.gallup.com/poll/120764/Conservatives-Shift-Favor-Openly-Gay-Service-Members.aspxJune
5, 2009 Conservatives Shift in Favor of Openly Gay Service Members Weekly
churchgoers also show double-digit increase in support from 2004 by Lymari
Morales

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans are six percentage points more likely than
they were four years ago to favor allowing openly gay men and lesbian women
to serve in the military, 69% to 63%. While liberals and Democrats remain
the most supportive, the biggest increase in support has been among
conservatives and weekly churchgoers -- up 12 and 11 percentage points,
respectively.

The finding that majorities of weekly churchgoers (60%), conservatives
(58%), and Republicans (58%) now favor what essentially equates to repealing
the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy implemented under President Clinton in
1993 is noteworthy for several reasons. First, the data show that these
traditionally conservative groups are shifting on this issue, supporting it
to a far greater extent than they support legalized gay
marriage<http://www.gallup.com/poll/118378/Majority-Americans-Continue-Oppose-Gay-Marriage.aspx>.
Second, it suggests the political playing field may be softer on this issue,
and President Barack Obama will be well-positioned to forge ahead with his
campaign promise to end the military ban on openly gay service members with
some support from more conservative segments of the population. To date, it
is estimated that more than 12,500 servicemen and servicewomen have been
discharged under the policy, including more than 200 since Obama took
office.

Overall, the groups most in favor of allowing openly gay service members to
serve in the military continue to be liberals (86%) and Democrats (82%),
followed by Americans 18 to 29 (78%) -- whose support registered a
nine-point jump in support from 2004.

While men (64%) and Americans 65 and older (60%) have levels of support more
in line with right-leaning groups than with left-leaning groups on this
issue, they join virtually all other demographic segments of the population
in registering an increase in support since 2004.

The only exception to the trend in favor of openly gay service members is
seen among those with a high school education or less, who showed 57%
support in both surveys.

*Bottom Line*

Gallup Poll data from 2009 reveal that majority support among Americans for
repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" has only strengthened in recent years.
Repealing the policy is a promise Obama made on the campaign trail and is
one that gay rights groups have recently been more vocal in urging him to
fulfill. While the administration to date has not taken action on the issue,
the Gallup Poll data indicate that the public-opinion environment favors
such a move.

In particular, the more conservative segments of the population who could be
expected to be most resistant to such a policy change have shifted in favor
of repealing the existing ban, to the extent that majority support now spans
all segments of the population. At the same time, it is important to note
that the Gallup Poll data do not break out the attitudes of current members
of the military or provide a read on the views of current military
leadership, whose reactions may be a major factor in the Obama
administration's decisions on a change in policy.

As the Obama administration weighs the political and military consequences
of a policy change on this issue, it can do so knowing Americans are for the
most part strongly in favor of change toward allowing gay men and lesbian
women to serve openly alongside their fellow service members.

*Survey Methods*

Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,015 national adults, aged
18 and older, conducted May 7-10, 2009, and with 1,015 national adults, aged
18 and older, conducted Nov. 19-21, 2004. For results based on these total
samples of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum
margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points.

Interviews are conducted with respondents on land-line telephones (for
respondents with a land-line telephone) and cellular phones (for respondents
who are cell-phone only).

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties
in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of
public opinion polls.

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