On Nov. 2 President Bush won a second term in office. This should not have come as too much of a surprise.
Historically it has been very difficult to defeat a wartime president. What is truly shocking, however, is that the majority of people voted based on their moral values, not the war on terror or the economy.
Why did this happen? Why did no one see it coming? For one thing, the media presented a slanted view. From watching television and reading newspapers, one might guess that most of America believes in gay marriage, that it is the wave of the future and there is no use trying to stop it.
And where did all of these conservative/religious values come from? When on the news have we ever heard something about religion that was not negative? When have we ever heard about the growth of the pro-life movement?
Certainly it is talked about here and there, but not with same enthusiasm that is given to liberal issues. If every small pro-life victory were mentioned, and the March for Life were given the coverage it deserved, we would understand just how vibrant the move toward traditional morality has been in this country.
The fact of the matter is that the liberal media misinformed us. Ironically, liberal bias in the media greatly hurt the liberal cause. Liberals did not see just how conservative the majority of America was when it came to moral values because, thanks to the media, it seemed that liberal causes were going so well.
As a result, the Democrats pushed too hard on extremely liberal moral issues and suffered a severe backlash.
That being said, we should also examine what this means for the future of American politics. Was it just an aberration, something that will soon pass? I do not think so. In the years to come, the push for the reintroduction of conservative values will only grow stronger.
This movement will really be unstoppable because an enormous amount of people will support it, while far fewer will remain to be advocates for liberal positions.
Liberal moral values have been put into law not because the whole nation was behind them, but only because the right people were in the right places.
Enough liberal judges were on the Supreme Court, so Roe v. Wade was put through and has remained legal. The same thing happened in Massachusetts when gay marriage was legalized. But when it comes to a popular vote, as we have seen, Americans will support traditional values.
Also, as time goes by, the conservative position will only gain more support from the rising generation. There is an increasing number of people in college
and in their 20s and early 30s who are part of a generational revival of conservatism, as discussed in the book "The New Faithful" by Colleen Carroll. I think this group will ultimately prove more influential than young liberals, who, while extremely fervent, are not getting the numbers they need.
We heard so much about how newly registered college-age voters were going to vote against Bush in large numbers.
I personally thought this might cost him the election in Ohio, where late at night many college students had not yet voted. But it never happened. The percentage of college students who voted was not significantly larger than in the 2000 election, according to the Associated Press.
At any rate, the election results show us that the Democratic party is out of step with most American voters on moral issues. It has alienated itself from many who might have supported it.
I believe that if the party is going to get back on track, it should take a more conservative position on controversial issues, thereby undercutting one of the Republican party's greatest strengths.
If it does, its strong positions on social justice could make it the clearest moral choice. I do not think this will happen, but either way I think extreme liberalism in the moral realm is losing ground and will clearly be overcome by conservatism in the years to come.
