Thank you for weighing in with your interesting conjectures, Skyline, and welcome to the board!

As I see it, the U.S. is certainly not a real democracy, but a plutocracy with some nominal democratic political rights. But the goal of those working for freedom and progressive politics is to move it closer and closer towards what it purports to be: a constitutional democracy, one that is not merely majority rule, but which has special inalienable provisions that protect minority opinions and lifestyles from a tyranny of the majority. Accordingly, there are many things a majority should vote for, but when it comes to anything related to the Bill of Rights, the majority can never circumvent this. Freedom of speech and choice do not work if the majority can overrule any expression of either based on no good substantive reason.