Amendment Passes with 70 Percent

Wichita Eagle reported

Kansans voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage and civil unions, a result supporters hailed as a rousing endorsement of traditional marriage. More than 550,000 people approved the measure by more than a 2-1 ratio, making Kansas the 18th state to ban gay marriage in its constitution.

Back in January, I posted this

On Sunday January 16, the Wichita Eagle released a poll of Kansas residents....

While 71 percent disapprove of same-sex marriages, there were different results when asked what rights same-sex couples should have for legal recognition of their unions, things were different

No recognition 53%
Marriage 13%
Civil unions 31%

It seems that the fundamentalists succeeded in defining the election as a referendum on "same sex marriage," and that the opponents failed. The January Eagle poll and the mid-March Survey USA poll which showed the amendment at 54-42 seem to indicate that there was a potential for a no vote of around 40 percent. Yet the vote fell about 10 points below that. Opponents ought to be asking themselves some serious questions instead of bashing their neighbors as hopeless reactionaries and denouncing our reactionary pastors.