John Kerry International Advisor Says Moral Issues Helped President Bush

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Nov 4, 2004   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

John Kerry International Advisor Says Moral Issues Helped President Bush Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 4, 2004

London, England (LifeNews.com) — A British political consultant who served as the international media advisor for failed presidential candidate John Kerry told the British media that moral issues such as abortion and stem cell research contributed to President Bush’s victory.

Steve Morgan, of Wales, told the Western Mail that Kerry’s support of taxpayer funding for controversial embryonic stem cell research contributed to his defeat.

One of the reasons Morgan signed on to the Kerry campaign, he said, was because of his support for Kerry’s views on the war in Iraq and terrorism. However, Morgan admitted that moral issues paved the way for Bush’s re-election victory.

"Their strategy was to put anti gay marriage and anti stem-cell research on as many ballot papers as they could, especially in battleground states and to mobilise the Christian right vote – and it worked," he said of the Bush campaign.

Morgan, who helped Kerry obtain favorable press coverage worldwide, said he expected states like Ohio would support Kerry because of the economic downturn there. But Morgan said Bush’s position on moral issues increased the turnout of pro-life voters.

Morgan told the Western Mail that Kerry’s camp thought the increase in voters would come from young adults who would be more sympathetic to Kerry.

"We thought, wrongly as it turned out, the 15% increase in first time voters were young people but they were not – they were the Christian right coming to the ballot box for the first time," Morgan said.

He told the Welsh newspaper that the Kerry campaign team was surprised by Tuesday night’s results.

"I am gutted. But the whole of the Kerry camp is just shell shocked," he said.