Culture wars? How 2004

We are at the beginning of a new era in which large, secular problems related to war and peace, economics and the United States' standing in the world will displace culture and religion as the electorate's central concerns. Divisions on "values" questions will not disappear, but they will be far less important to voters and campaigns.

Bush's victory rested both on 9/11 and on enthusiasm from religious voters. But what's most important is that 2004 is destined to be the last in a long line of contests in which culture and religion proved central to the outcome.