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Some activists's claim that "pro-life voter turnout" led to Bush's win should certainly be tempered by the overwhelming passage of California's Proposition 71, which promises a $3 billion expenditure for embryonic stem-cell research.

And it's not like we just elected the Abraham Lincoln of the unborn, says American Life League president Judie Brown. "The Bush administration's first term has been less than sterling in terms of total commitment to the pro-life effort," she says. "The malaise that will accompany Mr. Bush's re-election, I fear, will eat away at the edges of the pro-life battle without generating a clear victory for the personhood of every innocent human being. The definition of what it means to be pro-life will take another hit. Due to decay from within, this could spell the end of what we have known as the pro-life movement."

"Clearly, there is work to be done within our house," says Concerned Women for America's Wright. "First, we must ensure that evangelicals remain faithful in our civic duty to vote for people who, as nearly as possible, reflect biblical views. Second, we must teach our people how righteousness is worked out in public policy. Evangelicals and conservative Catholics distinguish ourselves from other special interest groups in that we do not seek our own advancement or political power; we want to see virtue respected so the people may rejoice. Our newly exercised muscle must be used wisely, only in God's service."

More election reaction:

• God and terror at heart of strategy | Bush has long nurtured the Christian Right (Roy Eccleston, The Australian)
• Economic policy, abortion are intertwined | As this wretchedly drawn-out political campaign comes to an end Tuesday, the issue of abortion still will be with us (Leo Sandon, The Tallahassee Democrat, Fla.)
• Dark cloud of presidential infallibility | Up in the clouds the woman bared her soul wrapped in the certainty that our future depended on the man God had picked to do His work on Earth (Myriam Márquez, The Orlando Sentinel)
• Bush unbound | Winning on fear itself, the GOP is ready to take the country even farther right (Sidney Blumenthal, Salon.com)
• Hoping to land on God's side | In America, church and state may be separate by law, but faith and politics are joined at the hip (Dennis Sasso, The Indianapolis Star)

Presidential election news:

• Churchgoers, white men strongly support Bush | President Bush won a majority of white men, churchgoers and white, born-again Christians, while John Kerry drew his strongest backing from blacks and led among Hispanics, according to voter exit polls yesterday (The Washington Times)
• Religion plays key role when casting votes | White South Carolinians who attend church regularly are faithful not only to their god, but to the Republican Party (The State, Columbia, S.C.)
• Can we overcome the divide? | Trinity College Professor Mark Silk said it will be interesting to see how Bush's evangelical Christian base of supporters reacts to the election result (The Hartford Courant, Conn.)

California stem-cell measure:

• Calif. voters back $3 billion stem cell measure | A controversial California ballot measure that would fund a decade of stem cell research with $3 billion in state money was headed for a resounding victory on Wednesday, initial returns showed (Reuters)
• Bush confounds traditional Republican strategy | He ran to the right in this year's election, mobilized his predominantly white, evangelical base, and earned enough votes that his campaign claimed victory early on Wednesday (Reuters)

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November (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48