ABSTRACT
In the 2004 presidential election, 60 percent of the voters said that they supported same-sex marriage or civil unions and 37 percent opposed any form of legal recognition for same-sex relationships. On average, 35 percent of all voters in the 2004 election supported civil unions, and the support is broad-based. Thirty-four percent of Kerry voters and 36 percent of Bush voters supported civil unions, while 40 percent of Kerry voters supported same-sex marriage and 51 percent of Bush voters opposed any legal recognition of same-sex relationships. Only three voters in eight opposed providing legal recognition to same-sex relationships when provided with the alternative of civil unions. The Democratic leadership’s placing of the blame for their loss on same-sex marriage may reflect nothing more than an inability to face the party’s organizational failures—or it may reflect a felt need for a scapegoat.
