Greg Sargent is shocked by a new CNN poll showing a bare majority of Americans oppose ending birthright citizenship, 51 percent to 49 percent. I haven't seen a party breakdown, but I suspect this is reflective of the debates over torture and global warming -- once a position becomes part of how Republicans self-identify and distinguish themselves from Democrats it doesn't actually matter how radical it is. The poll also finds 68 percent oppose "a mosque near ground zero," which might be relevant if the poll question had asked whether or not they support government intervention to prevent it from being built and if the building were actually a mosque.
But there are some other results in the poll that may speak to the relatively muted Republican reaction to Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling overturning Prop. 8 in California. Namely, 49 percent of Americans "think gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to get married and have their marriage recognized by law as valid," while 51 percent don't. Support is up 4 points from May of last year.
More interestingly, though, is that when asked, "Do you think gays and lesbians should have a constitutional right to get married and have their marriage recognized by law as valid?," a narrow majority of 52 percent of respondents said yes.
This is only one poll. Still, marriage-equality opponents used to be able to count on public opinion to justify their opposition to equal marriage rights for gays and lesbians, but it's increasingly clear that isn't going to last much longer.
