"Public-opinion polls show that Americans split about evenly on civil unions. But when the words "gay marriage" are presented, they break 3-to-1 against it"
About this Quote
A pollster's magic trick: swap the label, flip the outcome. Dick Morris is not marveling at Americans' uncertainty so much as mapping a route around it. Civil unions and "gay marriage" can describe similar legal realities, but the quote is calibrated to expose how politics runs on language before it runs on policy. "Split about evenly" signals a persuadable middle; "3-to-1 against it" warns strategists where the rhetorical land mines are.
The intent is tactical, almost clinical. Morris is telling readers that public opinion isn't a stable moral verdict; it's a set of reflexes triggered by loaded terms. "Civil unions" sounds procedural, incremental, bureaucratic - a compromise that lets voters feel tolerant without revising a cherished institution. "Gay marriage" yanks the debate into symbolic territory, where anxieties about tradition, religion, and identity flood in. The subtext isn't just that people are biased; it's that many prefer equality as long as it doesn't ask them to rename something they consider culturally sacred.
Context matters: Morris came of age in an era when campaigns increasingly treated language as an instrument panel for voter psychology. This is triangulation logic - find the phrasing that neutralizes resistance while securing most of the substantive change. The cynicism is implicit: democracy can be steered by framing effects, and "public opinion" often means "whatever a question can be made to produce."
The intent is tactical, almost clinical. Morris is telling readers that public opinion isn't a stable moral verdict; it's a set of reflexes triggered by loaded terms. "Civil unions" sounds procedural, incremental, bureaucratic - a compromise that lets voters feel tolerant without revising a cherished institution. "Gay marriage" yanks the debate into symbolic territory, where anxieties about tradition, religion, and identity flood in. The subtext isn't just that people are biased; it's that many prefer equality as long as it doesn't ask them to rename something they consider culturally sacred.
Context matters: Morris came of age in an era when campaigns increasingly treated language as an instrument panel for voter psychology. This is triangulation logic - find the phrasing that neutralizes resistance while securing most of the substantive change. The cynicism is implicit: democracy can be steered by framing effects, and "public opinion" often means "whatever a question can be made to produce."
Quote Details
| Topic | Equality |
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