Colorado Miscellany

-Colorado voters strongly support a bill in the legislature that would create civil unions for same sex couples in the state. 62% favor the proposal to only 32% who are opposed. Democrats (83/13) and independents (75/19) are pretty unanimously supportive, as are a third of Republicans (31/61).

A majority of Coloradans are actually willing to take it a step further and just legalize gay marriage. 53% of voters in the state think gay marriage should be legal to only 40% who believe it should be illegal.

There are two things in the crosstabs on gay marriage that really stand out. Voters under 30 think gay marriage should be legal by a 77/23 margin, and independents support it by a 61/32 spread as well. That should be a real warning sign to the GOP that continuing to tack right on this issue is going to significantly hurt its ability to appeal both to the next generation of voters and to swing voters who are somewhere between moderate and liberal on social issues.

We already see Colorado shading bluer and bluer at the Presidential level and this is one of the issues where Republicans seem to be stuck behind while the electorate is moving forward.

-John Hickenlooper continues to be one of the most popular Governors in the country with a 57% approval rating to 24% who disapprove of him. That +33 spread ties him with Nebraska's Dave Heineman as the most well liked chief executive we've polled on this year. Hickenlooper has strong support from Democrats (73/9) and independents (62/24), but what really sets him apart from the field is that he comes close to breaking even with Republicans (37/40). That's a rare feat these days.

As much as they like him Colorado voters aren't yet ready to buy into the Hickenlooper 2016 talk. Only 23% say they'd like him to seek the White House in 2016, while 55% think he should not. Even among Democrats only 34% express enthusiasm for a Hickenlooper 2016 bid.

-Democrats may be in a position to gain seats in the state legislature this fall. They lead the generic ballot 47-40, most notably including a 43-27 advantage with independents.

-Colorado voters narrowly think the Supreme Court should overturn ObamaCare, 42-40. We're seeing the same trend in both North Carolina and Colorado- although voters would be fine with ObamaCare getting scrapped, they're still planning to vote for Obama. That suggests this isn't nearly the make or break issue for him now that it might have been for Democrats in 2010.

Full results here

Comments

[Mark B.]

Thanks for polling a generic legislative ballot! State legislatures are really important.

[atdnext]

Thanks for asking about the Colorado SoS. It seems like most Coloradans haven't really made up their minds yet, so we'll have to wait and see if Gessler makes another move that could give the recall campaign momentum.

[sickoftalking]

The questions on same-sex marriage are not phrased neutrally.

Asking if something should be legal or illegal (Q6-Q8) suggests that its prohibited, which isn't the case. Same-sex couples can have relationships and contracts, the marriage just isn't legally recognized, but not being legally recognized is a different thing in common language from being "illegal". That's reflected in the third choice for Q8, which starts "there should be no legal recognition...", but the "illegal" vs "legal" phrasing is used in every other situation in the poll.

The question on civil unions (Q6) is just as bad. It asks whether the government should "let" same-sex couples form civil unions, when the legal issue is not that they aren't "let" to do it, but that they aren't legally recognized. People are currently let to do whatever they want.

Questions Q7 and Q7 vacillate between referring to "same-sex marriage" and "gay marriage", while its not necessarily the same issue. The issue legally is same-sex marriage, unless there is some provision in the law requiring the same-sex couple to prove a romantic relationship between them, when it is then gay marriage. If not, then it doesn't proportionally affect gay couples more than it affects other same-sex couples who may want the legal benefits that come with marriage. Both of whom are equally small groups, so it wouldn't be correct to say it would affect one of those two groups more than the other.

I'm sorry, I'm just tired of reporting on this issue being stuck in emotional, politically-potent language that doesn't reflect the legal reality.