A new Economist/YouGov poll shows that the mainstream media and Democrats are way out of step with the recent Supreme Court Hobby Lobby decision protecting the First Amendment religious rights of people, even after they commit the sin of opening a business.
Though we have been assured the Court’s decision is a winning War on Women issue for Democrats just 4 months out from the midterm elections, the poll shows that in reality women are split on the issue, with only 46% disapproving of the Court decision, while 43% approve.
Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey looked deeper at the poll’s crosstabs and found that the subset of women who feel strongly about the issue are just as evenly split, 32%/34%.
Apparently, a full court media press loaded with all kinds of misinformation isn’t able to convince even 50% of women that their rights are being violated if the government can’t force someone to buy them something.
To gauge how the decision would affect overall opinion of the Supreme Court, YouGov/Economist took polls just before and after the decision. The results show a complete flip from negative to positive approval.
At the end of June, SCOTUS sat 5 points underwater at 38% approve/43% disapprove. In the wake of the ruling though, the institution sits at 44% approve/41% disapprove.
That’s a shift of 8 full points in the right direction.
The primary shift is among political Independents. Approval of the Court jumped an incredible 21 points after the Hobby Lobby decision, from 32% to 53%. Disapproval cratered 15 points, from 52% to 37%.
Going back to the findings on the actual decision, by a 6 point margin, 47% of all those polled approve, while only 41% disapprove. When approval-disapproval is broken down by party identification:
Democrats: 25% – 63%
Republicans: 80% – 14%
Independents: 53% – 36%.
As Morrissey points out this poll is terrible news for Democrats who were so sure that with the help of a dishonest media they could ride this decision all the way to the midterms:
Which Democrats want to climb aboard [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid’s anti-religious-expression bandwagon with these numbers? Mary Landrieu in Louisiana? Michelle Nunn in Georgia? Kay Hagan in North Carolina? Even Al Franken in Minnesota may want to think long and hard before backing Reid’s play on the RFRA amendment. …Reid’s strategy is a loser on many levels[.]
Thankfully, a majority of the American people, regardless of gender, just aren’t buying the argument that the federal government forcing someone to violate their religious conscience is fair or just.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC
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