LA Times Spins the Numbers on the Gay Marriage Amendment

Take a look at this headline from the LA Times and Bird Cage Liner (h/t Patterico):

Californians narrowly reject gay marriage

So, just how narrow is it? Two points? Four points? How about 11 points by one measure, and 19 points by another? I think you call this "defining narrowness down".

Here are the numbers:

When asked whether they approved or disapproved of the Supreme Court's ruling on gay marriage, registered voters responded this way-

Strongly approve - 29%
Somewhat approve - 12%

Strongly disapprove - 10%
Somewhat disapprove - 42%

That works out to 52% disapproval to 41% approval. An 11% "narrow" loss for gay marriage.

And what about the upcoming gay marriage amendment?

For - 54%
Against - 35%

A 19% "narrow" loss.

I wonder if the Times described Jimmy Carter's 49 state defeat as a "narrow" loss?

The Times piece tries to suggest that support for amendments drops over time and therefore the results are closer than it looks, but this issue is just getting started. Nobody really paid attention to this amendment until the court ruling, and now that gay marriage will be a reality in California without it, I would expect that the historical voting patterns won't apply to this proposition.

Wait for 30 days when county clerks start issuing marriage licenses and the TV news is filled with lip-locking same-sex couples and then try the poll again.