Poll finds record support for pot legalization

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While 63% of Republicans oppose the federal government trying to stop marijuana use in these states

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This is an area where Republicans seriously need to adapt, and quickly.

Picking stupid fights like this will lose them the younger generation.

I don't understand the math here. How can a political stand for election and be against something that 60+% of people favor?

Legalize it and you have my vote

That too. Losing support of law enforcement is huge for a politician trying to get elected.

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don't understand the math here. How can a political stand for election and be against something that 60+% of people favor?

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Ask your local Sherriffs department and pharmaceutical salesman

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I don't understand the math here. How can a political stand for election and be against something that 60+% of people favor?

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Because people don't vote issue by issue. Every candidate in every election is going to be on the "wrong" side (in your view) on some issues, so you have no choice but to prioritize the issues for yourself and find the candidate that best matches your positions on the high priority issues.

So, if you favor pot legalization, the Republican opposes it and the Dem favors it, but you also want fewer entitlements, lower taxes, less regulation of business, more military spending, etc., you are likely to vote for the Republican even though he disagrees with you on the pot issue. Politicians suffer no political penalty for being on the opposite side of an issue from the majority of voters unless that issue is a high enough priority for enough voters that his "wrong" position actually starts costing him votes.

Pot legalization, like other issues that a majority support, such as same-sex marriage, legalized abortion, stricter gun control and a few others, is simply not a high enough priority for enough voters that opposing it will cost Republicans votes.

In addition, on several issues, including all of the ones listed above, the minority of voters who oppose them prioritize them much more highly than the majority who favor them. So, even if 60% favor legalized abortion and only 40% oppose it, the anti-abortion voters are much more likely to consider it an important enough issue to influence their vote than the pro-choice voters are. So, the candidate who goes along with the majority on that issue is actually more likely to lose votes than the candidate who opposes the majority.

It's one of the MANY failings of a two-party system. Voters are constantly given no choice but to vote for candidates with whom they disagree on a great many things, so politicians are free to disregard the will of the majority of their constituents to satisfy the demands of special interests as long as that one particular issue is not a dealbreaker for the voters whose will they are disregarding.