President Bush again proves he's out of step with his "fellow" Americans. The Commander in Chief has vowed to veto any hate crime legislation that comes his way. The majority of Americans, however, support expanding hate crime legislation.

According to a Gallup poll released yesterday, 78% of Americans support hate crime laws, while 68% believe we need to increase their size and strength. Astonishingly, 57% of self-identified conservatives think we should expand hate crime legislation. 68% of surveyed Republicans, meanwhile, also think President Bush needs to sign away. Maybe he needs to read this Gallup conclusion:

The religious and conservative leaders who are mounting a campaign against H.R. 1592 have their work cut out for them. The data reviewed in this analysis indicate that there is strong majority support for the expansion of hate crime legislation to include sexual orientation, gender, and gender identity among the general American population. Specifically, there is majority support among identifiable groups of Christians, frequent church attenders, conservatives, and Republicans for expansion of the legislation.