Demagogue

Yet another poll shows that the ban on gays in the military is indeed passe-- even among young Republicans.

According to the poll, 24.2% of respondents said that the policy makes them embarrassed by the military, while 17.5% said that the policy makes them proud. Fifty-six percent said the policy has no impact on their feelings about the military.

Conservatives were heavily overrepresented in the pool of respondents because the sample was designed to match the characteristics of a cohort of new military recruits. Among respondents to the survey, 53.1% were Republicans, 29.8% were independent/other, and 17% were Democrats; 81.6% were male, and 18.4% were female; and all were between the ages of 18 and 24. These characteristics closely match the profile of a cohort of new military recruits.
...
During the past two years, at least six national polls administered by five different polling organizations have asked members of the public whether gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly in the military. All polls found that between 58% and 79% of the public believe that gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly. For example, Fox News found in August 2003 that 64% of the public, including 55% of Republicans, believe that gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly.

I'm pretty surprised that among a sample of 18-24 year olds, of which 81% are male and 53% are Republican, that only 17.5% srongly support the ban and everyone else either doesn't care or opposes it. Bizarre.