Moral values maintain importance

I am astounded at the blatant disillusionment of Brett Warnke in his analysis of the presidential election results in his article "Pride goeth before destruction" (Dec. 1). If Mr. Warnke truly believes this election was decided by the "ignorance of Christian conservatives," he is sorely mistaken. President Bush maintained or increased his vote in every state but Vermont. I might be wrong, but I don't think this reflects some massive uprising of Christian wackos. Liberals must face the facts. This election was decided by 120,200,000 American citizens who voted for Bush, and the vast majority of these people are no different from you and me. According to the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate, the record voter turnout for President Bush was driven by such issues as support of Bush's leadership, likeability, the war on terror and, yes, moral values. The fact that moral values still matter to a majority of Americans is not something to be scoffed at and looked upon with disdain. It is insulting to millions of American voters to call them stupid, which is the one excuse liberals keep giving for their lost election. Seventy to 80 percent of Americans oppose gay marriage and partial-birth abortion. And get this, opposition to gay marriage is far from being led by radical Christian conservatives. In fact, opposition is strongest among the Democratic base, including blacks, Hispanics, blue-collar workers and the elderly. President Bush won by 3.5 million votes. The people have spoken. Maybe it's time liberals stopped criticizing them and started listening. Ashley Gillenwater
Sophomore