Well, Since You Put It That Way ...

[The Gays] The way a poll is worded can have a big effect on its results—that's one reason push-polling has become such a popular underhanded tactic near Election Day.

Looks like the Gallup Organization has found a good way to frame the marriage equality debate: A recent USA Today/Gallup poll found that 63 percent of Americans support marriage rights for same-sex couples. Sixty-three percent! That is a clear majority, and it's hugely encouraging that the result comes from a major pollster, and not some special-interest group.

The question was framed in terms of privacy—which is always a winner. Respondents were asked whether the government should be able to tell gays and lesbians whom they can and cannot marry, or whether that decision should be a private one. And, of course, privacy won.

So anti-marriage amendments are nanny-government bills--but is it really surprising that so many Republicans, who pretend to hate government interference, don't seem to mind it as long as the government is interfering in other people's lives?

Next, we can expect a dismal response poll from some joker in the Family Research Council. Natch, they'll ask voters something like this: "Do you support strengthening the American Family, or do you think that promiscuous, drug-addicted, atheistic homosexual child molesters should be able to redefine what your marriage means?"

Oh, and then hordes of angry people will be throwing around numbers and poll results and statistics, and what a fine time we'll all have! (Brandon Burt)