God, guns, gays take back seat

Some commentators, both on television and the internet, would have us believe that God, guns and gays are back at the forefront of this presidential election. The trio of so-called hot button issues were what turned the 2004 election in favor of George W. Bush, many of the same pundits claim.

It’s true that in his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama mentioned all three back-to-back. He essentially called for non-partisan tolerance and civilized discussion about abortion, gun-control and gays rights. I can’t say I was wowed by his non-specific rhetoric. And I certainly didn’t come away feeling he moved these issues to the front burner.

A week later, when Sarah Palin was named Sen. John McCain’s running mate, then, yes, it felt as if God, or more specifically abortion, jumped into the spotlight. She is squarely against a woman’s right to choose except in the case that the mother’s life is in danger, and the evangelical Christian base of Republican supporters came alive with her nomination. Previously unsure about McCain, the mega-church bigwigs and leaders of right-wing religious organizations like Focus on the Family had refrained from throwing their support toward the Republican presidential hopeful.

But with Palin on the ticket, the vociferous abortion foes are gushing about the Alaska governor-turned- political celebrity. These same folks, it hardly needs reminding, also believe wholeheartedly that homosexuality is immoral.

Meanwhile, the Log Cabin Republicans are quite pleased with what they heard, or more accurately didn’t hear, from McCain in his acceptance speech at last week’s Republican National Convention. The organization of conservative gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender citizen members have officially endorsed the candidate.

Board Chairman Pete Kingma noted that in recent years McCain has a strong record of voting and speaking out against the proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. And in his acceptance speech he refrained from using divisive social issues to rally supporters.

“Our members also support him because he’s a maverick; a trait most recently on display with his decision to select Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate,” Kingma is quoted as saying on the Log Cabin Web site.

If your head is spinning, please don’t feel alone.

When I try to make sense of it all, I do think the Log Cabin folks have a point. Neither candidate, it seems, is using social issues to drive a wedge between voters. Instead, though I am loathe to admit it, the media feel like the primary force in drumming up all these so-called “issues.”

The venerable actress Susan Sarandon, whose interest in politics is well-documented, gave me the most food for thought when it comes to what ought to be considered important in this election. In an interview with The Advocate, an LGBT newsmagazine, she noted, “(The Iraq war vets) are coming back who gave their hearts, souls and pieces of their bodies and sanity, and we’re not giving them what they need and we’re not hearing them.”

Maybe it is the guns we ought to be talking most about. The guns used in war.