It was the most noted statistic after the election: the issue most important to those who voted was not Iraq, not the economy, not terrorism and not healthcare. It was the swift boats controversy. Just kidding. It was moral values. The Democrats miscalculated badly. They figured that more people hated Bush than loved him. And it seemed that way-at least for college campuses, liberal newspapers and television outlets, the cities of the Northeast and the beaches of the west coast. But it turns out the Bush hatred did not resonate with the great, silent majority of Americans.

Well, the majority was no longer silent on Election Day. With a sea of red from Virginia to Nevada, engulfing all of America except for mere spurts of blue, Americans made it clear that they wanted President Bush, and his cultural values, to lead the nation. "Wait," many Brandeis students must be asking, "there are people out there who don't think Dubya is dumb?"

We never see them at Brandeis, so let's investigate this foreign species. The crowd that pushed Bush to another term is the same that sold out theaters and broke records for the Passion of the Christ. More generally, they actually have a religious presence in their lives, and they care deeply about the morality of the world in which their children will grow up.

Furthermore, they do not like the constant attacks on their right to be religious (attacks which never seem to be deemed politically incorrect) and are fed up with the anti-Christian sentiment pervading Hollywood that tried to stifle Gibson's creative voice.

Could they actually be angrier than the liberals? Well, they do not scream like Howard Dean, but they voiced their opinion in the voting booth. It may have taken the gay marriage issue to push them to the polls, but the majority finally exercised its voice, condemning the liberal media, smutty Hollywood, elitist Europe and the pompous Michael Moore.

In this election, they made it crystal clear. The people of the Great Plains do not want to be imposed upon by those in Cape Cod. That's certainly why 11 states out of 11 possible passed gay marriage bans. They don't want a Massachusetts court-a few unelected liberals in robe--telling the nation that they must accept what they consider to be a sin.

They don't want two men getting married. And, if marriage is a privilege and not a right, then their democratic will is entitled to be upheld.

The problem with the elitist intellectuals of the Democratic Party is that they are not in touch with what this majority wants and the majority wins in our government, so the Democrats are destined to lose. They are trying to impose the values of the few on the majority.

Many perceive the Democratic Party as having moved too far left. The truth of this claim can be debated, but all that matters is the perception. Al Gore has been replaced by Al Sharpton; Dean came one non-scream from winning the nomination; anti-war protests have morphed into anti-Christian, anti-Semitic and pro-socialism parties.

Meanwhile, the Republican Party has opened its base. The GOP seems to have plenty of moderates and social liberals on board, including Rudolph Giuliani, John McCain and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The middle of the country does not analyze each candidate's policies and count up marks on a checklist to determine who they'll vote for; they vote for somebody who resembles them and shares their values. Liberals do that too.

But the Republicans shaped Election 2004 as a secular verses religious battle a freedom verses morality battle, and most people still want morality and religion in their lives. For many, it was a gut feeling that Bush would stand up for their beliefs.

At Brandeis, we don't have much contact with this majority. As new departments like East Asian Studies are being added to the curriculum, perhaps a course like Middle American Studies may help Northeasterners understand what goes on in the rest of our country.