The Fix: Democrats are winning on social issues politically, at least
Across the 50 states, two separate and very divergent social movements are progressing apace.
1) The courts and Democratic legislatures are legalizing gay marriage.
2) Republicans and social conservativesare increasing abortion restrictions.
Practically speaking, it would appear that both pro-gay marriage forces on the left and anti-abortion rights forces on the right are winning at the same time. And that's true -- although largely these things are happening in different states.
But which party does the American publicside with on these issues more?
Well, politically speaking at least, the answer is clearly the Democrats. A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows Americans side with Democrats as a party on both abortion and gay marriage -- and by large margins on both.
Nearly half of Americans (48 percent) say the Democratic Party is closer to their opinion on abortion, while 33 percent say it's the GOP. That's a 15-point gap.
On gay marriage, it's about the same, with 48 percent siding with Democrats and 31 percent picking the GOP.
Of course, it's been clear for a while in which direction the whole gay marriage thing was heading, and the new poll shows Americans support 56-38 the Supreme Court's recent decision to allow gay marriage to move forward in several states.
Abortion, by contrast, has long split the American people by pretty consistent margins -- and often pretty evenly betweenthose supporting abortion rights and those opposing them.
See the article here:
The Fix: Democrats are winning on social issues politically, at least