Over @ Sepia Mutiny, I'm engaged on a conversation thread interpretting some of the election exit poll results including the now famous assertion that this was a "Values" election.    An article cited over there summarizes one Lefty/Progressive's position on it thusly -

Homophobia elected Bush. Misogyny elected Bush. Unreason elected Bush.

Ahem.   Well, last time I checked, 59M Americans elected Bush.

Based on exit polls (yes, I recognize they are of dubious value), this would include -

• 32% of the Gay vote
• 54% of the Female vote
• 58% of folks with College degrees.

Most "Liberals" just don't realize how much "conservatives" hate being called "stupid" by them day in and day out. That factor alone motivates, I'm sure, a non-trivial number of protest votes.  Step 1 towards healing the nation - stop assuming that "conservatives" are stupid. Step 2 - realize that many folks fear Islamic Jihadists far more than Christian Fundamentalists.  

If you crunch some more of the #'s from the CNN exit polls, it shows that

• if you combine Iraq (12%) + Terrorism (21%) you get a score that outweighs Moral values (24%)
• 37% of Bush voters are in favor of either Gay Marriage or Civil Unions vs. 68% of Kerry's (note that nearly 1/3 of Kerry's supporters wanted zero legal recognition whatsoever)

Sounds like a gap, eh? But, let's compare it to other "moral values" questions like-

• "who's more honest" (Bush = 80%, Kerry=20%)
• "takes a clear stand" (Bush = 80%, Kerry=20%)
• "stronger leader" (Bush = 88%, Kerry=11%)
• "Who attacked unfairly" (Kerry = 66%, Bush = 50%)

etc.

My point here is that while I have no doubt that homophobia exists in the world (and, for that matter, that homophobics are more likely live in Red States & to have voted for Bush), I do NOT want the Left to write off the "swing" in this election to this singular issue.   Instead, more often than not, they oughtta take a look in the mirror (just a few blocks from my place in downtown SF!!!!) and recognize that they'll catch far more flies with honey than vinegar.

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