"Basically legislating their version of morality."

As opposed to yours?

Spiff gave good reasons to vote for Kerry - if that is how you feel about those issues.
But, I would ask you young liberal folks to re-examine your personal beliefs. Why do you hold the positions you do? Did you learn the "truth" from your university professors? From the media? From discussions with your friends? Or is it just that the liberal view is so tres chic? If so, then you have a lot of work to do.

Why have the older conservative guys generally won out in this thread? Is it because they're stubborn asses? Or is it because their political positions have been formed by personal reflections over a long period of years, stemming from a coherent core philosophy - rather than learned quickly from an expert in a classroom or as a politically expedient response to some single issue? When you tie your political positions to a broad philosophy about life, your arguments will likely be better reasoned and more easily defended. IMO, the philosophical basis for the modern liberal POV is the belief that capitalism is unfair - in other words, its philosophical basis is Marx.

IMO, voting for Kerry - and Democrats in general - continues our slide toward socialism and the loss of personal responsibility and individual freedoms. Not freedoms like smoking crack and ripping babies out of your womb, but freedoms like property rights, self determination (as a country and as individuals), freedom to enjoy the fruits of your labor, and those freedoms specifically guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.

As a Libertarian, I obviously have high regard for the rule of law as set forth in the Constitution - wanting strict and unwavering adherence to those principles regardless of "the changing times" - and a desire for personal freedom and individual accountability. Obviously, neither party has a candidate that fully embodies those principles, but I would sooner accept the socially conservative Republican than the socialist Democrat.

BTW, the educated position on abortion needs to be re-thought. With the advent of RU486 and widespread birth control availability in this country, there is no way abortions during the second trimester should be legal. It is barbaric, brutal, primitive, disgusting and simply wrong. Anyone who has seen an ultrasound of a 5 mo old fetus would have to agree, IMO.