[Adam]

Originally Posted by livius drusus

I think there's a lot to that idea. The suprisingly large chunk of poll respondents who said "moral values" were their number one priority seem likely to be anti-gay marriage initiative voters. Hell, I didn't even know there were a dozen states with such initiatives on the ballot; I certainly didn't anticipate the possibility that they might actually draw in a strongly Bush-supporting segment of the electorate.

I was going to say the same thing. I find it both interesting and disheartening that, despite constant public assertions by both major parties, the pundits, the media, etc., assertions that I disagree with, by the way, that "9/11 changed everything", 9/11 changed nothing. The spoiler issue this year wasn't national security, the supposed new hot button issue, or our so-called war president and the result of his military policies, it was a 90's style culture war retro issue, the sort that we've supposedly put behind us to focus on the new and dangerous world we supposedly live in. I'm not sure what that means for American politics.

What I do know is that I'm apparently hopelessly out of step with a sizable chunk of my countrymen and women. I care about good jobs for people who want to work, decent health care for everyone, rational foreign policy with an eye toward preventing violence, and national security. They care, apparently, about whether or not two men are allowed to share an insurance policy. I called my mother (a staunch Democrat and strong Catholic) this morning to suggest that, if we ever want to see sane government again, her church, and other religious institutions, are going to have to make a decision about what they value more. Is it peace and humanitarianism, or is it who's allowed to marry whom and who controls whose reproductive organs?

I've felt vaguely naseous all morning. I think I'm going to go home at lunch and cry or yell or something.