Support for marriage seen as crucial to Bush's win of second term

Published: 2004-11-05

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Years from now, when all the analysis is over, historians might point to a specific moment in the 2004 campaign for president when the tide turned in favor of Republican President George W. Bush over his Democratic challenger, Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts. It was early July, two weeks before the Democratic convention, and Bush was speaking out in favor of the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would amend the U.S. Constitution to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman. "Because families pass along values and shape character, traditional marriage is also critical to the health of society," Bush said in his July 10 national radio address. "Our policies should aim to strengthen families, not undermine them. And changing the definition of traditional marriage will undermine the family structure." Some had warned that it was unwise for Bush to put such emphasis on what they viewed as a divisive social policy when voters cared more about Iraq, the war on terrorism and the economy. But when it was all said and done, 22 percent of all voters across the United States picked "moral values" as the most important issue facing the nation, followed by the economy and jobs (20 percent) and the war on terrorism (19 percent). Eighty percent of those who saw moral values as the most important issue voted for Bush, according to post-election data released by the National Election Pool.

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