Family Net Daily

Catholic Conference Condemns No on Prop 8 Ad

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The California Catholic Conference today criticized a No on Prop 8 ad that apparently is scheduled to run on MSNBC and CNN today. 

The No on Prop 8 advocates have shown their true colors in this election as they have not just disagreed with those who stand up to protect marriage, but have vilified and excoriated them as well. You may know that Latter-day Saints have been vigorously involved in this battle to pass Prop 8. 

Apparently their opponents think that it is payback time for the Mormons. The commercial depicts two Mormon missionaries invading the home of a same-sex couple.  In the commercial they knock on the door, say they are from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and tell a lesbian couple "we are here to take away your rights."  They take their wedding rings, ransack the house looking for their marriage license, find it, and then tear it up.  They say, "that was too easy, yeah, what should we ban next?"  Then the ad says:" Fact:  Members of the Mormon Church have given over $20,000,000 to pass Prop. 8."   "Say No to a Church taking over your government.  Vote No on Prop. 8."   

To see this ad click here:

Of course, this deplorable ad is ultimately a strike against churches having any say in these vital social issues, and the last line is absolutely chilling for all religious people, no matter who they are.   This is not just about the Latter-day Saints, but about any religious group who seeks to have a voice. 

In their statement, the California Catholic Conference called the ad "bigoted and intolerant."  Bishop Stephen Blaire, the President of the California Catholic Conference decried the new advertisement from opponents of Proposition 8 as "a blatant display of religious bigotry and intolerance." He expressed dismay that any public media outlet would give it an airing. "The YES on 8 campaign is not about discrimination and intolerance; it is about restoring the traditional definition of marriage for the good of society and children," said Bishop Blaire.

 "All individuals and groups, whether religious or not, have both a right and a responsibility to participate in a civil debate about this important issue. From the beginning of this campaign the Catholic Conference has stressed the importance of mutual respect and denounces this type of religious bigotry."

Other church leaders are also stepping forward with denouncements (see Protectmarriage.com). 

To read an article about the kinds of abuses members of the LDS Church have seen as they have supported this amendment read "The Perils of Raising the Title of Liberty."

How to Read the Exit Polls

Tonight as the media reports the election, reporters will constantly refer to exit polls.  In fact, as these exit polls roll in from the East coast, voters in the West are impacted.

Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies gives us this insight into reading the exit polls:

As we have seen in previous election cycles, the exit poll results do leak early and that ends up influencing the coverage of the race before even the first state polls close at 6:00 PM Eastern.

However, we want to remind you that the media's own post-election study of the exit polls in 2004 showed that the exit polls overstate the Democratic candidate's support. Therefore, we would discourage a rush to judgment based on the exit polls and wait until there has been a representative sampling of actual tabulated results from a variety of counties and precincts in a state.

Here are the key points to keep in mind when the exit poll data starts being leaked:

1. Historically, exit polls have tended to overstate the Democratic vote.
2. The exit polls are likely to overstate the Obama vote because Obama voters are more likely to participate in the exit poll.
3. The exit polls have tended to skew most Democratic in years where there is high turnout and high vote interest like in 1992 and 2004.
4. It is not just the national exit poll that skews Democratic, but each of the state exit polls also suffers from the same Democratic leanings.
5. The results of the exit polls are also influenced by the demographics of the voters who conduct the exit polls.

After the 2004 election, the National Election Pool completed a study investigating why the exit polls that year showed John Kerry over performing 5.5 net points[1] better than the actual results showed him to have done. Their conclusion was that the primary reason the exit polls was that Kerry voters and Democrats were more likely to participate in the exit polls.

"Our investigation of the differences between the exit poll estimates and the actual vote count point to one primary reason: in a number of precincts a higher than average Within Precinct Error most likely due to Kerry voters participating in the exit polls at a higher rate than Bush voters. There has been partisan overstatements in previous elections, more often overstating the Democrat, but occasionally overstating the Republican."[2] (Emphasis added)

Conclusion

Based on the previous exit poll results, we should expect once again that Tuesday's exit poll data could overstate the Obama vote and under represent the McCain vote.