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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 13 percent who listed abortion and 9 percent who said gay marriage.

Leaders of mainline Protestant churches, who have been at odds with President Bush over the war in Iraq and other issues, urged national unity in congratulatory statements sent after he won reelection.

Bush and his wife, Laura, both United Methodists, received Bibles signed by the 130 members of the Methodist Conference of Bishops at their meeting in St. Simon’s Island, Georgia. The signed Bibles are a 200-year tradition for the bishops.

When I ran for a seat in the U.S. Congress a few decades ago, I was an unknown Democrat trying to unseat a Republican. During the campaign I was asked how, as a clergyman, I could serve in Congress, where so many compromises would have to be made. I replied by saying something about how we don’t live in a perfect world and about ambiguity in politics. It was not a response on which to build a successful campaign. (I lost 73 percent to 27 percent.)

After the battle of the presidential election came the battle over the meaning of the election. Exit polls were dissected to discern the nation’s character, especially its moral values. That a fifth of voters cited “moral values” as their key concern, and 80 percent of those voters backed George Bush, inspired talk of a values “gap” and a near-unanimous bit of advice for the Democrats: talk more about values.

In winning reelection George W. Bush expanded his 2000 coalition primarily by increasing the turnout and his support among key constituencies, including religious communities. The Kerry campaign tried to do the same, but it had less success, especially on the religious front.

When it comes to the Democratic Party’s on-again, off-again search for a message that would appeal to religious voters, any metaphor will do: asleep at the wheel, stumbling in a darkened room, a code-blue emergency.

Clergyman and ex-Congressman Bob Edgar prefers a comparison to the Israelites wandering the Sinai Desert. “Look, it took Moses 40 years to get his people out of the wilderness, and we’ve been in the wilderness for 25 years,” said Edgar, a United Methodist who heads the National Council of Churches. “And we’re not there yet, but we can see the Promised Land.”

Pastor Jay Geisler had grown weary of fellow Christians squabbling over political ideology. He wanted issues put in the context of the poverty and hopelessness in neighborhoods near his St. Stephen Episcopal Church in McKeesport, Pennsylvania.

So he called Call to Renewal, one of several faith-related groups touring the country this election year to draw Americans together from both sides of the ideological divide for polite conversation, social cooperation or both.