Values-minded US parties miss mark with voters

[Ron Burgundy]

AFP - Republican and Democratic candidates in upcoming US congressional elections are campaigning hard on family values but may be missing their target as the economy and Iraq war have voters on edge.

Republicans saw "family values" -- such as banning late-term abortion and defending "traditional" marriage between men and women -- as one of their keys to victory in 2004.

But with the November 7 vote approaching, the family values issue took a distant sixth place in October polls by USA Today/Gallup and CNN, behind concerns such as the Iraq war, the war on terror and the economy.

Steven Grabner, who works at a cozy wine shop here, agrees, saying family values as an issue have become a "moot point, because the lines have blurred."

For Republicans, particularly in Ohio, the issue has been further undermined by corruption scandals involving party members from the governor's mansion all the way to Capitol Hill.

One of the ethics scandals involves former Florida Republican representative Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record)'s sexually explicit e-mails to teenage congressional pages, with the party's leaders blamed for not acting immediately to stop him.

Still, Republicans are undaunted.

Family values are among the key "principles that don't ebb and flow in political cycles," insisted Josh Holmes, spokesman for the Republican National Committee.

"As long as people have thoughts and feelings and beliefs they want to see reflected in their leadership, family values will always be important."

For Paul Beck, a political science professor at Ohio State University: "Republicans have suffered on family values issues" and the scandals have "really undercut their ownership of that issue."

Regrouping after being branded as against family values in the last election, Democrats have worked hard to claim some of the mantle. Defining the issue more broadly, they say protecting family values means ensuring adequate health care, livable wages and a good education.

"People are fundamentally struggling, because they're having to pay higher property taxes, they're paying more in tuition, they're paying more for gasoline, and so the family values translate very much into what's making it harder for them to raise their own families," said Democratic National Committee spokesman Luis Miranda.

He said the recent scandals are "a reaffirmation that the leadership in Washington is just right now too preoccupied with its own power.

"Values is something Republicans have a hard time clinging onto," he said.

Ohio lawmaker Deborah Pryce, the highest-ranking Republican woman in the history of the US House of Representatives and the chamber's fourth-highest-ranking member, has come under fire for describing Foley as a friend before the scandal broke and for her close ties to the leadership.

Those ties might ordinarily indicate good clout on Capitol Hill, but those are ties that could hurt in this election year.

Pryce also faces a tough battle to win the hearts of voters in the more liberal-leaning city of Columbus, where far more bumper stickers and lawn signs cheer on her Democratic opponent, Mary Jo Kilroy.

The city has a vibrant downtown with clusters of skyscrapers and well-manicured neighborhoods like the trendy art-gallery district of Short North, where new businesses and apartments are a bumper crop.

Still, the Midwestern state of nearly 11.5 million people is a battleground with a blend of urban and rural areas, income levels, faiths and party affiliations that parallel those of the country as a whole, making it an ideal test market for new products such as soft drinks or fast food.

The state played a pivotal role in George W. Bush's 2004 presidential election victory, and family values were a central concern, because a same-sex marriage ban was on the ballot in the state at the time, and the issue mobilized conservatives.

It is still a priority for some voters, especially in the South and the Midwest, so-called Bible Belt states where religious conservatives have taken over the Republican Party, Beck said.

"It's the future of all our children. We have to be good stewards of it," Pryce told AFP after speaking to a dozen supporters and reporters from a flatbed truck.

The issue is also important to Ohioans such as Gabriella Frank, manager of the Moments with Majesty Christian bookstore in Pickerington, and Alex Sawyer, a waiter in Worthington.

Sawyer, sporting an earring in his left ear and a shaved head, said: "I hold that a marriage is between a man and a woman. ... I know what my Bible says."

Part of why values are in the spotlight in the state -- if not across the United States -- is that "Ohio is more 'small town,'" and many locals still "hold onto those traditional family values," said Christy Steadman, a sign-language interpreter at Ohio State.

Yet, she believes: "there's a need for change."