all-encompassingly

David Brooks hits the nail on the head explaining how the entire election wasn’t decided exclusively on values. Or as he says:

This year, the official story is that throngs of homophobic, Red America values-voters surged to the polls to put George Bush over the top.

This theory certainly flatters liberals, and it is certainly wrong.

Although I think that if Bush had pushed values-oriented policies more (partial-birth abortion and gay marriage, in particular) the election would have been a true landslide.

Brooks goes on to point out:

The reality is that this was a broad victory for the president. Bush did better this year than he did in 2000 in 45 out of the 50 states. He did better in New York, Connecticut and, amazingly, Massachusetts. That’s hardly the Bible Belt. Bush, on the other hand, did not gain significantly in the 11 states with gay marriage referendums.

Which I think reinforces the folly of not bringing values explicitly into the election.