Civil unions for gays favored, polls show

The heated debate over gay marriage is strengthening public support for legalizing civil unions for same-sex couples, with a majority of Americans now in favor of such formal recognition, according to two polls released Wednesday.

Reflecting what appears to be a search for middle ground on the issue, both the Washington Post-ABC News poll and the USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll showed a significant shift in public opinion on civil unions in recent months.

The latter survey found 54 percent of respondents favor civil unions for gay and lesbian couples, with 42 percent opposing them. In a poll conducted in July by the same organizations, 57 percent opposed civil unions and 40 percent favored them.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4496265/

I guess most people are happy to see this change? Not me! It concerns me more that people can be so easily influenced by media exposure. Where are the core values which automaticaly tell someone the difference between moral and immoral?

Or

The Media Whore Corps. were lying all the time about the 'polls'?

Were the same people polled in July re-polled to get these latest figures? I don't think so.

Unless the pollsters reveal they survey questions, and details on the population polled, the sound bites don't tell anyone much of anything.

I mean, come on. Was the latest poll taken by asking people walking by Dupont Circle? People in suburban Richmond? How do we know?

That's the problem with "hot button" issues -- they always cool off. Once otherwise rational people consider the subject for a while, they realize that allowing gay couples the benefits of health insurance isn't a threat to the institution of marriage.

Bush & Co. should have raised this issue during the first week of October to create maximum chaos. Raising the issue now assures that it will be a non-issue by mid-summer.

That's when MA will have undeniably valid same gender marriages. But that backlash will die down as well. It won't be a huge factor.