The Arkansas Poll done annually at the University of Arkansas is out today and it leads with the sudden realization by Arkansans that climate change poses a serious threat in current lifetimes. And in another big change, more back same-sex marriage than oppose it for the first time. Gun and abortion answers might surprise legislators, too.
The numbers who see peril from climate change is but a small plurality, but the “nays” had been in solid control the previous three years. And this poll was before the latest unsettling findings
This link will take you to all questions. Among the findings:
* MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE:
* ASA: 61 percent approval. Also a 59-35 preference over Jared Henderson on election horse race question.
* BALLOT MEASURES: 67 percent support increase in minimum wage. 72 percent support voter ID amendment. Casino expansion wasn’t polled.
* SENATOR APPROVAL: Boozman 43-32 percent approval/disapproval and Cotton 46-37
* TRUMP: 50-46, versus 47-40 last year.
* ABORTION: 38 percent want to make them more difficult to obtain, down from 45 percent. 20 percent want them easier to obtain. 36 percent want no change in existing law. Only 17 percent want them illegal under all circumstances. Preserving Roe v. Wade is favored 39-32.
* GUN CONTROL: Sorry Charlie. 44 percent favor stricter laws. 43 percent want no change. 10 percent want looser laws.
* SAME-SEX MARRIAGE: Now supported 49-46 after years of solid opposition. Legality makes a difference, I guess.
* EQUAL RIGHTS FOR GAYS/LESBIANS: Get a load of this. The vote is 90 percent yes, 7 percent no. But Bart Hester, Bob Ballinger and the other haters in the Arkansas legislature insist we don’t have enough laws discriminating against LGBT.
* DIVERSITY: A group of questions
* POLITICAL IDENTIFICATION: Leans Republican over Democrat, 32-28 (much