More important than the economy, terrorism and health care, the most crucial term of the 2004 election seems to be \moral values."" In what has become one of the most important exit poll questions of 2004, analysts around the United States are asking themselves what ""moral values"" stand for and why the majority of the American public said it was the most important issue in the recent elections.
Religious conservatives claim exit polls indicate Americans care about issues such as same-sex marriage and stem cell research, while liberals claim the results indicate Bush won the election on religious ideology, not ""real"" issues like the economy.
Charles Franklin, a UW-Madison political science professor, said the varied interpretations may stem from the wording of the poll question and the ambiguity of the term ""moral values.""
""If you didn't think taxes, terrorism, Iraq, or education [were] the most important issues in the election, then this option attracted people who didn't have a specific issue,"" he said.
Franklin said he found it hard to believe everyone who voted for ""moral values"" were right-wing conservatives, but said a certain percentage of the public on both sides probably did base their choices on specific issues such as abortion or gay rights.
UW-Madison political science Professor G. Donald Ferree agreed that the way exit pollsters asked the question mattered as well. ""People were asked to indicate a single important issue in their choice. To some, any choice besides moral values would be considered immoral,"" he said. ""Also, the interpretation of 'morals' becomes very complex, and we don't know which moral issue they were thinking about.""
Many students and community leaders said although poor wording may have inflated the number of people who chose ""moral values,"" some believe the results still indicate what they see as a disturbing trend among the ultra-right to force personal values and morals onto the public.
""The danger I see ... is that if we forget that we are full of sin ourselves, and become involved in an accusatory morality that locates 'evil' in foreigners and gays and lesbians, then we also become capable of committing great evil,"" said Pastor Brent Christianson of the Lutheran Campus Center, adding he thought the right wing was intentionally spreading fear to Christians.
Franklin said the poll results may simply indicate Bush appealed more to the traditional moderate voter and to what one of his students labeled ""heartland values.""
""What we may be seeing is just an overall feel for the middle man,"" he said.
