Hey, I just remembered, wasn't gay marriage such an important issue in the 2004 election? Why isn't it this time around?

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Because there are far more important issues out there than need to be discussed.  Which goes back to Obama's speech about being distracted and people being bitter.  That's why people tend to focus on things that are not the most important because the politicians aren't.

Gay mariage, while an important issue to some, is probably #25 in the list of what needs to be focused on.  The biggest are our economy, bringing the troops home and the mortgage crunch.  And then you can throw in there health care and education.  All things that were pretty much ignored the past 7+ years.

What makes you believe the right wants Obama over Clinton?  I would think it's clearly the opposite.

Because more Obama supporters would vote for Clinton than Clinton supporters would vote for Obama.  Democrats would be a more unified voting block with Clinton, even if they weren't happy with the choice.

Not voting for the other Democrat seems to be cutting off your nose to spite your face if you ask me.

I would agree if all that matters to you is what party is in the office.  Of course if you care about issues and have a brain, you won't blindly vote the party line, but will instead vote for the candidate who more closely follows your views, whichever way that may go.

Because there are far more important issues out there than need to be discussed.

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You just made my entire desk shoot out my nose.  What burning issues exist now that didn't exist in 2004, other than the lack of an incumbency to be protected?

You just made my entire desk shoot out my nose.  What burning issues exist now that didn't exist in 2004, other than the lack of an incumbency to be protected?

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You obviously didn't finish reading my post...

I'm not saying gay marriage isn't an important issue, just that there are more important issues.

But the gay marriage "issue" in the "re"-election of Bush (the only election he actually won) was only advanced to distract Americans from the failures of the Chicken Hawks with the Iraqi war. 

Putting in the "something that most Americans either didn't care about or don't want" category is a bit disingenuous, don't you think? 

Kerry probably could have handily beat Bush if his party didn't push for something that most Americans either didn't care about or didn't want. I guess they realized that this time around, but at the same time it makes them look bad for sweeping it under the rug like that.

Switch that.  Kerry did not push gay marriage or civil unions he was responding to Bush's position. He did not support gay marriage, he supported civil unions.  The party has not pushed for some form of legalization of gay marriage or a repeal of the DOMA.  I would wager that Kerry did not want to touch the gay marriage issue with a 10 foot pole but it was made an issue. The gay marriage "issue" was a political football put in play by Bush.  It was a smoke screen issue to further galvanize social conservatives and the religious right.

In other news, New Jersey's most famous son has endorsed Senator Obama: http://www.brucespringsteen.net/news/index.html