Preferring gay to pray

Poll: Americans Would Rather Have A Gay President Than An Evangelical One

By Wendy Gittleson

The times really are changing, and if the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC poll is any indication, we’ll have a President Barney Frank long before we’ll have a President Mike Huckabee – well, maybe.

In the fascinating poll, respondents were asked whether they’d be “enthusiastic,” “comfortable with,” “have some reservations about,” or “be very comfortable with” either a gay president or an evangelical president.

A full 61 percent of respondents said they would either be enthusiastic or comfortable with a gay or lesbian president. 

Only 52 percent said they’d be enthusiastic or comfortable with an evangelical candidate.

In 2006, just 43 percent of respondents said they’d either be enthusiastic or comfortable with a gay candidate and 41 percent said they’d be comfortable or enthusiastic about an evangelical candidate.

Catholics fare better. 77 percent would approve of the idea only 20 percent would have reservations or be uncomfortable.

On the flip side, more people (44 percent) are uncomfortable with an evangelical candidate running than are uncomfortable (37 percent) with a gay candidate.

Respondents are almost exactly as comfortable with the idea of an African-American president as they were in 2008, when Obama was elected. 86 percent answered either enthusiastic or comfortable. In 2008, 81 percent were okay with the idea.

85 percent of respondents are comfortable with a woman candidate. That’s up from 76 percent in 2008. Interestingly, 80 percent were in 2006.

When asked if the country has gone too far in accepting homosexuality, 44 percent answered that we haven’t gone far enough and only 20 percent said we’ve gone too far. In 2000, by contrast, 42 percent thought we had gone too far and 41 percent said not far enough.

When the evangelical question was tested with real names, though, the results were quite a bit different and perhaps that’s because Republicans were asked. The other results didn’t differentiate party affiliation. 

All of the evangelical Republican candidates had support or potential support on an individual basis, but Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio were the winners when respondents were asked to choose.

Interestingly, Barack Obama has a higher positive rating than does Hillary Clinton (47 percent to 42 percent) but he also has a higher negative rating (40 percent to 42 percent. Obama and Clinton both beat out the Democratic party in general, the Tea Party, the Republican party and the entire field of Republican candidates. The Democratic party is more popular than the Republican party.

Author Wendy Gittleson is one of the luckiest people on the planet. She actually gets to make a living out of two of her greatest passions, writing and politics. When she's not writing, she's hiking with her dogs, riding her bike or cooking a great meal with her friends or loved one. Follow Wendy on Facebook, Twitter or Google Plus.