Seeking to analyze who voted yes on Proposition 8, the ballot measure that rescinded marriage rights for same-sex couples in California, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow weighed in (about 2:52 into this clip) on new polling results about the voters who favored the gay marriage ban.

Siting a new study by the Public Policy Institute of CA, she said,

What got initial attention for Prop 8 was the fact that the marriage ban was supported by a high proportion of African American voters, who also supported Barack Obama… But, quantitatively, if you get into the nitty gritty details, you can tell a lot more about how a person voted on Prop 8 by knowing their education level and income, whether or not they are a Republican, their religion and whether or not they voted for John McCain, rather than just knowing their race…

If you’re looking to see who the ban could not have passed without, it’s Republicans, Christian evangelicals and the poor and less educated among us. You’ve got your work cut out for you, gay rights movement.

Maddow’s show was broadcasting from San Francisco yesterday, so it’s possible she was spurred by PPIC President and CEO Mark Baldassare’s commentary in yesterday’s San Francisco Chronicle about the study’s results:

Prop. 8 won among both white and nonwhite voters without a college degree and among lower-income households, while it lost among both white and non-white voters with college degrees and among upper-income households.

Related posts:

1. Prop 8: Mormon money and the black vote
2. CA Gay group will wait until 2012 for Prop 8 repeal effort
3. Special election next Tuesday connects to Prop 8
4. BREAKING: SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS PROP. 8
5. Date for campaign to repeal Prop 8 still up in the air