Red Values vs Blue Values

[ThAnswr]

I really found it distressing that so many in the Red states had moral values at the top of their list as to why they voted the way they did. Can someone from the Red side explain to me how they think their values differ from my Blue side values?

As parents, my DH and I raise our daughter, pay our taxes, go to school meetings, and help our neighbors. We're Democrats. How are we any different than Republicans when it comes to moral values?

I don't like the culture our daughter is growing up in. I don't like the idea that I can't even watch the evening news without having to explain what the Cialis, Levitra, and Viagra ads are peddling. I don't like to see soft-core porn on the daytime tv shows.

Are the Red group and the Blue group truly that different or is this just an example of political alliances for political expediency and demogoguery?

 

[jrydberg]

Well, I can't speak for others, but speaking for myself, I'll say that it's not a matter of moral vs. immoral. It's a matter of what's more important. We are not much different. We share most of the same values, but have slightly different "rankings" for those values. Values often conflict with each other. When they do, that's where some fall on one side and some on another. We do not disagree on core beliefs, but on how to resolve conflicts in values, IMO.

 

[grinningghost]

I can't speak for all "reds", but for me, the morality thing really didn't apply. I voted for Bush because of one reason - homeland security. He makes me feel safe. I do not agree with his stand on abortion and stem cell research. So I guess I would be an immoral Republican. If there is such a thing.

 

[DMickey28]

I agree it's the ranking of values... that's not to say "blue" states are less moral or have lesser values.

I believe in Bush for homeland security and for him as a person and his beliefs. I do not agree with him on abortion but I do on same sex marriages.. I choose the "best" person for what I believe and feel strongly about.

 

[alabamaalan]

Chickening out

Edited post to not get involved any longer in political discussion though I do believe the thread is a good one and sincere.

 

[ead79]

I do rank "moral issues" as a high priority when voting. I try to choose the candidate whose beliefs seem to most match my own. For instance, I am pro-life, pro-capital punishment, etc. so I tend to vote Republican. I think the difference between the red side and blue side, so to speak, is really just a matter of perspective.

 

[BuckNaked]

I don't think it is moral v. immoral as much as priorities, goals and methods for reaching those goals.

 

[Octoberbride03]

Speaking for myself. I've about had enough of all this. The election is over. All this red stuff, blue stuff never existed b4 and it doesn't exist now except in the newspapers.

If you don't like the culture your kids are growing up in then work to change it. Locally!! I guarantee you most of the ppl who answer this thread live nowhere near you.

Now, can we stop with most of this political nonsense until the next election? Because, i've only seen these threads lead to major fights. I've not once seen anything productive come out of them. Especially when the OP gets involved.

I just wanna go back to the nice, reasonable, message boards we had b4 the election stuff started and stay that way till the next 1 comes along.

 

[bsnyder]

Originally posted by ThAnswr
I really found it distressing that so many in the Red states had moral values at the top of their list as to why they voted the way they did. Can someone from the Red side explain to me how they think their values differ from my Blue side values?

As parents, my DH and I raise our daughter, pay our taxes, go to school meetings, and help our neighbors. We're Democrats. How are we any different than Republicans when it comes to moral values?

I don't like the culture our daughter is growing up in. I don't like the idea that I can't even watch the evening news without having to explain what the Cialis, Levitra, and Viagra ads are peddling. I don't like to see soft-core porn on the daytime tv shows.

Are the Red group and the Blue group truly that different or is this just an example of political alliances for political expediency and demogoguery?

I think you're listening to way too much media bull****. They completely misread the election before it happened. Why would you take what they are saying after the election as gospel?

 

[mrsltg]

I don't think it is moral v. immoral as much as priorities, goals and methods for reaching those goals.

I agree.

I don't think that Democrats are immoral. Actually, I voted for the President not based on morals per se. I am pro-life but that does not determine my vote. I also believe that gays should be allowed to marry, but that doesn't determine my vote. What does determine my vote is who believes that I am capable of living my own life? Who believes that I can best spend my own money? Who begins the class warfare? Who is interested in hand-ups as opposed to hand-outs? All of these have the strongest effect on my vote. In this case it was President Bush. It had nothing to do with anyone being immoral.

I think that when pollsters are reporting a "morality" vote they are interpreting it wrong. It's not so much the gay marriage issue as it is an issue of trust. Who can you trust? Who more closely aligns themself with your personal beliefs? There is nothing wrong with voting that way. I am getting really sick of people being villified for voting their conscience (not implying that's what the OP is doing) as though they are clearly less intelligent. I think that the Dems in power need to wake up to this reality. This election was a BIG smack in the face to the Democratic party. They need to get down to some serious soul-searching if they would like to regain seats in Congress and position a serious contender for the White House in 08. It'll be interesting to see what they come up with.

Erin

 

[ThAnswr]

Originally posted by Octoberbride03
Speaking for myself. I've about had enough of all this. The election is over. All this red stuff, blue stuff never existed b4 and it doesn't exist now except in the newspapers.

If you don't like the culture your kids are growing up in then work to change it. Locally!! I guarantee you most of the ppl who answer this thread live nowhere near you.

Now, can we stop with most of this political nonsense until the next election? Because, i've only seen these threads lead to major fights. I've not once seen anything productive come out of them. Especially when the OP gets involved.

I just wanna go back to the nice, reasonable, message boards we had b4 the election stuff started and stay that way till the next 1 comes along.

Have a Disney Day!

 

[Jennifer S]

Funny - when they said people voted on morals I thought they meant Bush & Kerry's morals. After what happened w/ Clinton (sex scandal) I thought it meant they liked the morals Bush brought back to the white house.

My mom and sister voted Kerry. Me and other sister voted Bush and we all have the same morals.

 

[Geoff_M]

I honestly think way too much is being made about the "values" response in the exit polls. "Values" can mean a lot of different things to a lot of people. To some it means they "trust" one candidate over the other. For some "steadfastness" is an important value. It could mean a candidates position on partial-birth abortions. It can be "tells the truth". etc. etc. etc. When you roll all of those things together, I think it can create a false impression because anyone can think that the people that responded skewed towards one definition or the other.

 

[supermom2]

Originally posted by Octoberbride03
Speaking for myself. I've about had enough of all this. The election is over. All this red stuff, blue stuff never existed b4 and it doesn't exist now except in the newspapers.

If you don't like the culture your kids are growing up in then work to change it. Locally!! I guarantee you most of the ppl who answer this thread live nowhere near you.

Now, can we stop with most of this political nonsense until the next election? Because, i've only seen these threads lead to major fights. I've not once seen anything productive come out of them. Especially when the OP gets involved.

I just wanna go back to the nice, reasonable, message boards we had b4 the election stuff started and stay that way till the next 1 comes along.

This thread was obviously political, why did you click on it? There are way more threads non-political than political. Visit those and just stay away from these and you'll be fine.

 

[bsnyder]

Originally posted by Geoff_M
I honestly think way too much is being made about the "values" response in the exit polls. "Values" can mean a lot of different things to a lot of people. To some it means they "trust" one candidate over the other. For some "steadfastness" is an important value. It could mean a candidates position on partial-birth abortions. It can be "tells the truth". etc. etc. etc. When you roll all of those things together, I think it can create a false impression because anyone can think that the people that responded skewed towards one definition or the other.

I agree! And I would venture to guess that many of these people who are getting so worked up about the "values" story that the MSM are pushing haven't ever bothered to actually look at the exit polling data for themselves and draw their own conclusions. Pretty sad.

If you do look at it, you'll find something quite extraordinary:

The "most important issue" breakdown looks like this, from the 2004 electorate:

Taxes (5%)

Education (4%)

Iraq (15%)

Terrorism (19%)

Economy/Jobs (20%)

Moral Values (22%)

Health Care (8%)

Notice that Iraq and Terrorism are listed as two completely different issues. That's because that's how the mainstream media and the liberal elites view those issues - completely separate and distinct - and they want the American people to view them as completely separate and distinct.

But DO they:

The exit polls also ask that question.

Is Iraq War part of the War on Terrorism?

Yes (55%)

No (42%)

So why isn't the mainstream media pumping the storyline that 34% of the electorate thought the War on Terrorism was the most important issue? It was, according to the data.

But that's not the story they want to spin.

 

[snarfer1]

Originally posted by Octoberbride03
Speaking for myself. I've about had enough of all this. The election is over. All this red stuff, blue stuff never existed b4 and it doesn't exist now except in the newspapers.

If you don't like the culture your kids are growing up in then work to change it. Locally!! I guarantee you most of the ppl who answer this thread live nowhere near you.

Now, can we stop with most of this political nonsense until the next election? Because, i've only seen these threads lead to major fights. I've not once seen anything productive come out of them. Especially when the OP gets involved.

I just wanna go back to the nice, reasonable, message boards we had b4 the election stuff started and stay that way till the next 1 comes along.

We interrupt this thread.....

I have never agreed with anything ThAnswer has said (yet!), and she and I would probably disagree about the color of the sky, but I think your post was uncalled for. It's kinda a funny me calling another to task for a rude post (guilty myself), but I have always found ThAnswer sincere, intelligent, well thought and often very witty. Yes she stands her ground, but I have found that she 'listens'.

Infact she is the closest those blues (Democrats have to a jrydberg)!

Now back to the original thread.....

I feel that it is a combination of the two main 'answers' presented so far.

Different ranking of priorities blended with the methods to accomplish these priorities.

For me, I choose the President based on who hit my 'core' concerns the most:

In no particular order:

Constitutional Federal Government..
Return of State Powers to the States.
Destroying Terrorists a.k.a. National Security.
The Second Ammendment.

Doing the opposit of whatever shortbun wanted (A joke, I swear a joke!)

-Tony

 

[snoopy]

I don't need exit polls to know there were a chunk of Americans who voted for Bush based on the fact they believe he was God's candidate and that he was the more moral of the two.

I personally feel that war is a crime against God, humanity, and nature itself. I allocated a lot more weight to the Iraq war fiasco than anything else and voted for Kerry largely because of that issue. So I guess you could say I voted based on my moral beliefs as well.

 

[froglady]

I'll be honest in saying that "morals" had nothing to do with how I voted. As most people would admit (if they were being honest) I voted for the person who I felt would make my life better, or at least not make it any worse. The Democratic platform would have had an adverse effect on my family this time around. I've felt differently in the past, and may do so in the future.

 

[BuckNaked]

I think that too many people automatically equate "moral values" to "religious values", and the two are very different.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Originally posted by BuckNaked
I think that too many people automatically equate "moral values" to "religious values", and the two are very different.

This is so true.