A recent NOM blog post titled "Making Our Stand With You" makes this claim:
Lost in all the news about renegade judges imposing their personal opinions on entire states by throwing out state marriage laws or overturning state constitutional amendments defining marriage as one man and one woman, is a simple fact — the majority of Americans, the people who really matter, continue to believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman.
First, Politico — hardly a conservative news outlet — reported that 52% of Americans are opposed to marriage being redefined.
Except that that's not what Politico reported. From
the report (emphasis added):
Clear generational divides exist on the hot-button social issues of gay marriage and marijuana legalization, a new POLITICO poll of voters who will decide the most competitive House and Senate races finds.
That split is starkest on the question of same-sex marriage, which is supported by 48 percent of those surveyed overall. But that number skyrockets to 61 percent among people between the ages of 18-34.
Slightly more than half of those between ages 35 and 49 support gay marriage; the figure drops to 48 percent among those aged 50-64 and tapers off to 35 percent among those 65 and older. Overall, 52 percent of those surveyed oppose gay marriage.
The poll is not a random sample, but only in areas where the races are the most competitive. From The New Civil Rights Movement's
David Badash:
First, Politico admits that the poll is only of 867 “likely voters in hotly contested areas.” Those areas include 16 conservative states — for Senate races — and 68 districts — for House races. That’s 84 separate areas polled, or just over 10 people per area on average.
So, if Politico believes canvassing 10 people in a single House race is going to give them an accurate response, well, they are more than welcome to do so, but I have every right to disagree.
From Slate's
J. Bryan Lowder:
[W]e’re talking about the opinions of a few people in areas that mostly skew conservative anyway—not very telling.
Nice try, NOM. I like it when you live in a bubble. It's a good reason for a laugh.