“Moral values” is the big post-election buzzword but it is meaningless in this context since everyone votes according to his or her moral values, always. Americans simply have no unified definition of what constitutes the moral position.
For example, for some people moral means “no killing innocent fetuses”; for other people it means “no killing innocent Iraqis.” For some, preventing discrimination is the moral issue; for others it is defining marriage as heterosexual. For some, moral means bringing God more visibly into the political process; for others moral means ensuring religious tolerance by not biasing our politics toward one specific group.
Even were we all to agree on which issues were the “moral values” ones — say, for theoretical example, preventing abortion – different moral codes demand different actions. For some the moral choice would be voting for the man who is “pro-life”; for others it would mean voting for the man who is “pro-family planning.” And for still others, who simply
notice that abortion rates went
up significantly under Bush’s leadership, morality would require voting for his opponent.
The point is, everyone votes according to his or her moral values. Calling moral values the unexpected player, or saying their appearance in the exit polls gives the president a clear mandate, is bologna!
Erica Bolliger
Portland, OR