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ABC-WaPo Poll: Increased Support for Legalizing Pot, and Social Justice

By Jeralyn, Section Other Politics
Posted on Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 11:36:08 AM EST
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A new poll by ABC-Washington Post finds increased support for: legalizing marijuana, same-sex marriage and a path to citizenship for the undocumented.

The poll data is here.

What it means, according to WaPo:

Republicans may not be able to rely on social issues as they try to rebound against a popular president and increasingly dominant Democratic Party.

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    ABC-WaPo Poll: Increased Support for Legalizing Pot, and Social Justice | 14 comments (14 topical)

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    well (5.00 / 1) (#2)
    by Capt Howdy on Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 11:52:25 AM EST
    I would say that pretty much wraps it up for the republicans then, no?

    No (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by jbindc on Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 01:57:55 PM EST
    the pendulum always swings back.  The 60's and early 70's led to Ronald Reagan remember.  Shifts come around every 20-25 years.

    Parent
    Not always (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by CST on Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 02:08:30 PM EST
    See: inter-racial marriage, slavery, female voting rights, prohibitioin, etc.. etc...

    It is a lot harder to change a law than it is to keep it the same.  Even if the debate doesn't go away, the program/law remains intact until there is overwhelming approval to change it.

    Parent

    Oh, I agree (none / 0) (#6)
    by jbindc on Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 02:31:14 PM EST
    I'm not saying the laws will change - just the overall political shift.  There will never not be a conservative party or conservative members in Congress.  Something else will come up that social conservatives will rally around (cloning?), but it will be fiscal conservatives that will revive the party because my guess is that at least 50% of the population are fiscally conservative (at least more conservative than they are liberal).  And when you have budgets like the one that just passed, that could balloon deficits for years to come (depending on whose estimates turn out to be true), and the economy doesn't improve, voters may start to look at the Dems and think "What were we thinking?"

    Parent
    Republicans (5.00 / 2) (#8)
    by CST on Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 02:59:42 PM EST
    will be back (or some "conservative" party).  But I doubt it will be recognizable to those who call themselves conservatives today.  At least with regard to social issues.  I do not doubt for a second that in a generation or so, same-sex marriage will be as much as a "given" as inter-racial marriage is today.

    With regard to "fiscal conservatism" you are making a pretty big assumption that the economy won't improve.  Although I agree that eventually the deficit will have to close - I personally think raising taxes is the way to close it.  In addition, the republicans are gonna have to regain some credibility on this issue to be a true opposition.  The Dems had some built in due to the Clinton years.  Bush may have really hurt republicans on this issue for years to come.

    Parent

    Probably (none / 0) (#12)
    by jbindc on Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 04:11:26 PM EST
    But I doubt it will be recognizable to those who call themselves conservatives today.

    But then again, Barry Goldwater didn't recognize the party that came of age in the 80s.

    I just think Dems shouldn't get all too cocky and think they have a lock on a semi-permanent majority - that's what happened after the Contract with America.

    Parent

    for me its not cocky its worried (none / 0) (#13)
    by Capt Howdy on Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 04:57:36 PM EST
    that Obma and Nancy and Harry will get cocky and think there is no alternative to them.
    there is always an alternative.

    Parent
    Right (none / 0) (#4)
    by MyLeftMind on Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 02:08:10 PM EST
    but the shifts are swifter these days because of better communication systems.  Dems don't have ten or twenty years to enact policy changes.  

    Parent
    which is why (none / 0) (#11)
    by Capt Howdy on Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 04:00:55 PM EST
    Obama is in overdrive I think.

    Parent
    the 60 and 70s (none / 0) (#10)
    by Capt Howdy on Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 04:00:10 PM EST
    were cultural.  there was precious little progressive government at that time.  or even a broader appetite for it.  we (hippies and the few governmental sympathizers that were around) got a lot of press but the moral majority controlled the government.
    what I see happening now is a huge realignment of the voting population.  we are now starting to control the government.  because that is what the majority wants.
    considering that, unless the republicans make some radical changes to their platform or there is some other unforeseen and completely unpredictable disaster or something I think, politically speaking, they are totally hosed for the next decade or so.

    god I hope so anyway.

    Parent

    In other words, (none / 0) (#1)
    by bocajeff on Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 11:49:11 AM EST
    the poll shows a shift towards freedom...

    different issues (none / 0) (#7)
    by diogenes on Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 02:48:18 PM EST
    These are just libertarian issues.  The Republicans will soon find better winners (long prison sentences for violent crooks and pedophiles, for example).  Willie Horton ads would play as well now as they did in 1988.  And don't be too sure that the majority wants mass citizenship for the undocumented and porous borders--the Democratic base of union members and blacks might object.

    No, they don't (none / 0) (#9)
    by WS on Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 03:34:24 PM EST
    Check the poll: 61% support tough but fair immigration reform.  The unions voiced support for immigration reform a few weeks ago and African Americans do not list immigration in any of their top priorities; hence, they will not complain.

    Please stop listening to right wing chest beating on immigration.      

    Parent

    talk of republican demise is greatly exaggerated (none / 0) (#14)
    by english teacher on Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 07:32:11 PM EST
    behind the curtains, those whose interests lie with protecting inherited wealth and the corporate privileges in which it invests will accede to social changes to the extent required to regain office.  never forget that.  inherited and corporate wealth will do whatever it takes to regain access to the control of government power, so that they may wield it in their own favor for the purpose of dismantling it.  the only question is whether the hubris, and/or ineptitude of democrats combined with corrupt media duplicity will be able to create  an opportunity for jeb to make a run in eight years.  after the criminal conspirator richard nixon and the nightmare reagan/bush years, one would have thought there was no way the republicans could ever put enough lipstick on the pig of their policies to regain national office, but they did, and were willing to lie, cheat, and steal in the process.  i am still amazed by the fact that mccain got six million votes more than bush won in 2004, after eight catastophic years of bush governance.  nevertheless, it is a fact, and one best not forgotten so quickly.  

    ABC-WaPo Poll: Increased Support for Legalizing Pot, and Social Justice | 14 comments (14 topical)

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