Raleigh, N.C. – Same-sex marriage has been legal in Vermont for two years, and civil unions for nine years before that. The state’s voters are strongly behind full marriage equality, with 58% saying it should be legal and only a third saying it should still be illegal. Only 18% say there should be no legal recognition of a gay couple’s relationship at all. 79%, including 56% of Republicans and 82% of the independent plurality, think gay couples should have at least the legal rights associated with civil unions. And when asked what impact gay marriage has had on their lives, 60% of voters say it has had no effect whatsoever, while 22% say it has had a positive effect and 18% a negative one.
-Gay marriage has been legal in Vermont for almost 2 years now and most voters in the state say it's had no impact on their lives. 60% say it's been a non factor for them personally to 22% who say it'd had a positive effect on them and 18% who say it's had a negative one.
A strong majority of voters in the state- 58%- are glad that same sex marriage is legal to only 33% opposed. And even among those who remain opposed 55% admit that its legalization has had no effect on their lives.
When you add civil unions to the equation 79% of voters support some form of legal recognition for gay couples- 55% preferring marriage and 24% civil unions- with only 18% opposing any sorts of rights. Even 56% of Republicans support either gay marriage or civil unions.
Raleigh, N.C. – There has been some frustration at times among Democratic activists over how President Obama has conducted his battles with the Republicans in Congress and stood up for the party’s values. But when push comes to shove, there is little to no desire for the president to actually be challenged in a primary, and even if he were opposed by some of the most stridently liberal figures in the party, the president would almost certainly prevail. There is no better example of that than in Vermont.
Though he is ostensibly an independent, Bernie Sanders is more popular than the president with his home-state Democratic primary voters. 90% approve and only 7% disapprove of his performance in the Senate. The spread is still a strong 81-11 for Obama. The state is also home to another nationally popular figure with the left: former governor Howard Dean, who has a 77-12 favorability mark.
If there's any state where you could imagine there being a serious desire among Democratic voters to replace Barack Obama with someone further to the left next year it would probably be Vermont. Not only is it one of the most liberal states in the country it's also the home of 2 liberal icons, Bernie Sanders and Howard Dean, who if there was going to be a viable primary challenger seem like plausible candidates. But our polling there finds neither of them would come all that close to Obama, an indicator that the likelihood of Obama facing any serious contest next year is pretty minuscule.
Sanders would pose the more serious challenge to Obama but still trails 52-33. He actually would edge the President 50-38 with voters describing themselves as 'very liberal' but would face a 39 point disadvantage with 'somewhat liberal' voters at 62-23 and a 32 point deficit with moderates at 57-25.
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