"NBC exit polling found that among the 4 percent of California voters who identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual, 63 percent voted for Clinton, 29 percent for Sen. Barack Obama and 1 percent for John Edwards. In New York, 7 percent of voters self-identified as LGB and 59 percent voted for Clinton, 36 percent for Obama and 3 percent for Edwards."
Citizen Crain has a fantastic analysis of the exit polls and how skewed they actually are.
He does well in identifying my biggest problem with the exit polls--the fact that they were only conducted in New York and California:
"While gay voters in places like New York and San Francisco may feel the luxury of looking past gay issues in the Democratic primary, those issues hit much closer to home in those states that lack any state or local anti-discrimination laws and where anti-gay bias is a more common occurrence.
I certainly don't feel that luxury. I know what life is like for gays who live in my native South, and I've seen firsthand how the issue can rip apart families and friendships. And laws like the Defense of Marriage Act have a direct impact on my life, since my partner and I cannot live together in the U.S. because of it. It makes a real difference to me that Barack Obama favors full repeal of DOMA and Hillary only half, and because she has consistently tried to defend the nefarious law signed by her husband in 1996.
Exit polling of gays is rarely done outside of New York and California because the sample is presumed too small. As a result, we get a skewed look at what GLB voters really think about these candidates." - Chris Crain
1 comment:
First off, gays in California and New York may be percieved as people living the 'luxury' life of looking past homosexuality. I disagree. The Defense Against Marriage Act has been a pain in every single gay man and woman's life.
My friend can't even walk down the streets of Santa Cruz with her partner for fear of being beat up. She goes to the restroom at home because she's been beaten up so many times for who she is. One cannot ignore that even in West Hollywood hate crimes happen on a daily basis, many of these crimes are not even reported. Families are ripped apart everywhere in the nation soley for living the life they were born to live.
Do not take for granted the exits just because they were only done in CA and NY.
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