The stronger-than-expected role of moral values signals that the nation's values agenda is likely to be dominated by "social morality" concerns for abortion, gay marriage and stem-cell research--issues vital to Bush's base.
The election also marks a defeat for progressive groups who tried to cast "social justice" concerns of poverty, war and the environment as moral issues.
Either way, Jim Wallis, a self-described progressive evangelical, said neither blue states nor red states should try to claim a corner on the values market.