A large majority of Americans say they
wouldn't rule out a presidential candidate based on sexual
orientation.
According to a
poll released Thursday by the Pew Research Center for the People &
the Press, 3 percent of Americans said they would be more likely
to support a presidential candidate who is gay or lesbian, and a
third (33%) said they would be less likely to support such a
candidate, a 13 percent drop from 2007.
The real news, however, is the number
of respondents who said it wouldn't matter either way. Pollsters
found a large majority (62%) of respondents unconcerned about sexual
orientation, up from 51% four years ago.
According to the poll, Americans are
less likely to support a candidate who has had an extramarital affair
over one that is gay by 13 percentage points (46 percent vs 33
percent, respectively).
Which led newsweekly Time to ask
whether adulterer Newt
Gingrich would have a better chance at the GOP presidential
nomination running as a gay man, and The New Civil Rights
Movement to suggest that Fred
Karger, an openly gay GOP presidential candidate, is better situated
than Gingrich.