Petra
11-03-2004, 11:32 PM
http://publicaddress.net/default,1637.sm#post1637
Clearly, Karl Rove got his four million evangelical Christians. That is the number reckoned to have stayed away from the polls in 2000, and, by coincidence, almost exactly Bush's margin in the popular vote in 2004. What seems to have surprised everyone - except, perhaps, Rove - is that final exit polling suggests that "moral values" was the key issue in voting decisions for more people than any other, terrorism included.
The ascent of gay marriage to the status of a constitutional issue - and the consequent flurry of ballot initiatives to ban it in key states - has proven to be hugely influential. The initiatives, and the controversy over stem cell research, helped get out a pivotal vote for Bush. The exit polls say that that 78% of people for whom "moral values" were a primary motivator, voted Bush - that's 18 million votes. A lot of those folks queueing for the polls in Ohio, who the Democrats assumed were their people, appear to have been evangelicals.
etc...
Clearly, Karl Rove got his four million evangelical Christians. That is the number reckoned to have stayed away from the polls in 2000, and, by coincidence, almost exactly Bush's margin in the popular vote in 2004. What seems to have surprised everyone - except, perhaps, Rove - is that final exit polling suggests that "moral values" was the key issue in voting decisions for more people than any other, terrorism included.
The ascent of gay marriage to the status of a constitutional issue - and the consequent flurry of ballot initiatives to ban it in key states - has proven to be hugely influential. The initiatives, and the controversy over stem cell research, helped get out a pivotal vote for Bush. The exit polls say that that 78% of people for whom "moral values" were a primary motivator, voted Bush - that's 18 million votes. A lot of those folks queueing for the polls in Ohio, who the Democrats assumed were their people, appear to have been evangelicals.
etc...