Poll says war was top moral issue

The war in Iraq was the most important "moral issue" for voters in the national elections--far outpacing abortion and gay marriage as top-shelf concerns, according to a poll supported by progressive groups.

The national poll, by Zogby International in the week after November 2, found that 42 percent of voters listed the Iraq war as their top moral concern, followed by 1:3 percent who listed abortion and 9 percent who said gay marriage.

The results suggested that the 22 percent of voters in exit polls who chose "moral values" as the most decisive flatter in their votes had associated that term with hot-button sexual/reproductive issues like gay marriage and abortion. The values voters" cited in exit polls overwhelmingly went for President Bush.

"Values were important in this election, but whose values, which values and why these particular values and not other values are questions that are still in need of more attention," said C. Welton Gaddy, executive director of the Interfaith Alliance.

In other findings, one-third of voters listed "greed and materialism" as the most urgent moral problem in the country, followed immediately by poverty. On the broader question of the greatest "threats" to marriage, gay marriage rated third, outranked by infidelity, and rising financial burdens.--RNS

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