[Liz]

.....what gave (GWB) the edge in the election, which he won 51 percent to 48 percent, was a perceived sense of morality and traditional values. Asked what one issue mattered most to them in choosing a president, "moral values" ranked at the top with the economy/jobs, terrorism and the war in Iraq. Trailing significantly were health care, taxes and education. Of the people who chose "moral values" as their top issue, 80 percent voted for Mr. Bush. (For people who chose the economy/jobs, 80 percent voted for Mr. Kerry.) Nearly one-quarter of the electorate was made up of white evangelical and born-again Christians, and they voted four to one for Mr. Bush.

Damn, the NYT acts like it's a big surprise. We could have told them.

[stopillegalimmigration]

What is funny is that the answer was in front of them all the time, but they failed to properly interpret. MSM viewed polling that showed people viewed country on wrong track was favorable to Kerry and not Bush because that is what they wanted to believe, but the truth is that people voted for Bush because they want him to return country to right track.

[Red Badger]

If the election was about morals, then obviously the electorate percieved the LEFT of being devoid of them....

[SilentServiceCPOWife]

The NY Times doesn't believe that people, religious or not, see the President as a competent leader in a difficult time for our country. Instead, they chalk his win up to the fact that Americans are too "unenlightened" to choose someone like John Kerry. According to them, we didn't choose GWB based on intellectual analysis of the issues. We chose him because we are ignorant, "religious nuts".

[NutCrackerBoy]

Gun owners preferred Mr. Bush by a ratio of two to one, despite Mr. Kerry's hunting forays and other efforts to convince sportsmen that he was one of them. -KATHARINE Q. SEELYE

Can I get me a, uh, clue here? -John Kerry

[treadstone71]

They're kind of missing the point that Iraq and WOT are also moral issues, at least in my mind.

[Uncledave]

The Times doesn't get it.

By saying "even in a time of war and economic hardship..." they show they believe that moral values are separate concepts from "war" and "economic issues" rather than guiding principals to use in approaching those issues.