A false wedge issue making claims of a marked increase in support for Republicans in the GLBT community based on misinterpretations of exit polling date is making the rounds. Now Amanda Terkel is making the same claim at over at HuffPo: Gay Voters' Support For Republicans Nearly Doubled From 2008. I wrote her a letter:
Dear Amanda
Your whole thesis is based on faulty logic. Polling data showing that gay Democrats stayed home in significant numbers does not support your contention that "gay voter support for Republicans nearly doubled" by any stretch of the imagination. You seem to base your argument on the Democrats' "share of the gay vote" which proportionally gives a larger share of a smaller pie to Republicans when many gay Democrats stay home and don’t vote.
You owe your readers an apology and a retraction.
Eric...
Exit polls only reflect a cross section of voters, without any data on LGBT Democrats who stayed home to give a more accurate picture of voting patterns.
I saw a diary making a similar claim here on D-Kos yesterday titled: Gays Disproportionately Moved to the GOP on Tuesday
This type of fabricated controversy dividing progressives is a very unwelcome (especially right now).
The very last thing Progressives need is to get sucked into a a circular firing squad of recriminations over a false premise like this one. WTF are Amamda Terkel and HuffPo trying to accomplish over there?
UPDATE: Politico and Yahoo News have followed suit with more inaccurate headlines:
More gays voting Republican
Exit poll: Nearly a third of gays voted for GOP