...According to the exit poll, 22% of the electorate said "moral values" was the issue that mattered most in how they voted - compared to 20% who cited the economy, 19% who cited terrorism, and just 15% who said Iraq was the key issue.More data supporting my prior post. America now has a vast divide between faith/feeling and reason/empiricism. This correlates with religious observances, but I think it's a primary distinction. Obervances may be secondary.
Not surprisingly, four out of five voters who cited moral values as their key issue voted for President Bush - as did the same proportion of those who cited terrorism...
...Two-thirds of voters who attend religious services regularly (once a week or more) backed President Bush rather than Senator Kerry - and they make up 40% of the electorate.
Those who never attend services, in contrast, backed the Democrats by the same margin - but they make up only 15% of the electorate.
Insofar as Democrats are a party of tolerance, freedom, and inclusion they cannot, by definition, encompass groups who's very essence is the exclusive correctness of their religious observances.
The issue we stood a chance on, and failed, was the very high correlation between terrorism as an issue and votes for Bush. I agree that terrorism and security are the dominant issues for all nation states in the 21st century -- however I feel that Bush has a very wrong approach to these problems.
In any case, "nice" to have more data to back up my intuition.
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