Brody's Notes... As Senate Vote For DADT Fails New Gallup Poll Released Shows Widespread Support For Repeal

By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) DEC 9 | A Gallup Poll released this morning showed that If they had an opportunity to vote on it, 67% of Americans say they would vote for a law that would allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. military, with only 28% opposed.

According to the Gallup organisation, the findings, from a Gallup poll conducted Dec. 3-6, 2010, is consistent with previous Gallup surveys on the issue. More than 60% of Americans since 2005 have said they favor allowing openly gay men and lesbian women to serve in the U.S. military, including majorities of the most conservative segments of the population.

The current findings are based on a question in which Americans are asked whether they would vote for or against several proposals lawmakers are currently considering. It was asked after the release of a major Pentagon study on troops' views about the current ban on openly gay service members and as the lame-duck Congress moved toward legislative action. Defense Secretary Robert Gates testified to Congress on Dec. 2, saying that troops' concerns "do not present an insurmountable barrier" to ending the policy.

Rank-and-file Republicans currently are evenly divided on the issue, with the most opposition coming from conservative Republicans. Large majorities of Democrats, independents, and moderate and liberal Republicans are in favor.

Americans express almost exactly the same level of support for allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. military as they do for extending the Bush tax cuts for all Americans for two years and extending unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed. It would also appear to be an easier sell to the American people than passing the DREAM Act, ratifying the START treaty, postponing Medicare cuts, or banning earmarks.