Poll: The GOP is Swimming Against Public Opinion

A new New York Times/CBS News poll has more bad news for the Republican Party even as it continues its political fellatio to the Christianist base of the Party: 65% support Barack Obama's inclusion of contraception in prescription drug coverage and a majority - 2/3 among Catholics - support some form of legal recognition of same sex couples. Obviously, someone in the GOP needs to come out of the bubble and notice that the wind of history is changing and that continued slavish obedience to Christofascists is not in the best long term interest of the Party. Of course, attending batshit crazy events such as CPAC gives a false view of what is actually happening in the larger public. Here are highlights from the New York Times on the poll findings:

Despite the deep divide between some religious leaders and government officials over contraceptives, the latest New York Times/CBS News poll found most voters support the new federal directive that health insurance plans provide coverage for birth control.

In addition, most voters said they favored some type of legal recognition for same-sex couples, at a time when the New Jersey Legislature is set to vote on gay marriage and after a federal appellate court ruled that Proposition 8’s ban on same-sex marriage in California was unconstitutional.

While same-sex marriage and coverage for contraceptives have generated significant debate this month, the poll suggests that voters do not place social issues high on their agenda. When asked to name one issue that presidential candidates should discuss, most voters, including Republicans who described themselves as primary voters, mentioned an economic problem, like unemployment or the budget deficit. Few said they wanted to hear the candidates talk about abortion or gay marriage, for example.

On contraceptive coverage, 65 percent of voters in the poll said they supported the Obama administration’s requirement that health insurance plans cover the cost of birth control, and 59 percent, said the health insurance plans of religiously affiliated employers should cover the cost of birth control. . . . . A majority of Catholic voters in the poll were at odds with the church’s official stance, . . .

Gay marriage is another debate in which the Catholic laity disagrees with church doctrine. More than two-thirds of Catholic voters supported some sort of legal recognition of gay couples’ relationships: 44 percent favored marriage, and 25 percent preferred civil unions. Twenty-four percent said gay couples should receive no legal recognition.

Let's hope the GOP remains totally deaf to what most of the voters want and keep on drinking the Christianist Kool-Aid.