Everyone has been ignoring the elephant in the room in this presidential election. The two issues that have received the biggest play, terrorism and the economy, are only two legs to the three legged stool. The third leg, that has been suspiciously absent in the entire contest, but ironically, it is what really divides the country, far more than these first two issues, is abortion.

First of all, you will be hard pressed to find anyone who wants another terrorist attack on the country unless they are in a sleeper cell planning that attack. And the only ones wanting the economy to fail . . . besides the ones who benefit politically when it does, are the same ones who would plan an attack on the US. No, I am not calling the Democrats terrorists. Even with my artistic abiitlies, I couldn’t draw a connect-the-dot picture that would create that image.

The third issue I mentioned though, abortion, is the lynch pen to the eroding unity in this country as much as slavery was over 150 years ago. So divisive was that issue that many states decided to leave a union that didn’t give them the right to choose. Sound familiar? And, so divisive and controversial that an entire political party, had as its origins, the fight against slavery and the emancipation of all people. Founded in 1854, that was the Republican party. Sound familiar?

So isn’t it odd, that through the years, the party that was established on individual liberty and freedom from bondage in everything from its opposition to slavery to its support of the equal voting rights for all races, and women, to the civil rights act in the 1960s, that it has been revised to look like the party that really did oppose all these movements . . .the Democrat party. But stranger than that is the move to paint pro-life people as the ones who are trying to restrict individual rights, when the purpose is to not only to save the lives of unborn children, but to protect innocent women from the bondage of the emotional and physical scars of abortion that are never addressed by the party that claims they support women’s rights.

Why is this THE issue in the presidential race of 2004 when it has not been that important in races before? Because before this, the nation was not quite as evenly divided as now, and pro-life supporters were perceived and portrayed as fringe evildoers placing restrictions and controls on women, their bodies, their choices, their lives.  But now, pro-life and pro-death forces have chosen sides and the teams are equal in number.

The voices of the left that profited from the industry of death were not only funded and financed, but were vocally supported by almost every news organ in the nation, aided by academia, Hollywood, and the women’s movement that boasted loud annoying voices but tiny little numbers. But as women, who were told their rights were being protected, were led into the abortuariums by the hundreds of thousands, leaving their hearts behind, their emotions in turmoil, and their lives scarred forever, got older, all that changed. Many realized their one chance at motherhood had been stolen from them by people who did not tell them the devastating consequences of such a terminal decision. Others, when finally bringing a child to full term lamented the incredible opportunity they passed up having that brother or sister delight in their new pride and joy. Others resented the men who so arrogantly and ignorantly announced that they were in full support of a woman’s right to be mutilated, humiliated and abused by the act of abortion and decided they were clueless and could never vote for such an obvious dolt. It is suspicious that so many liberal thinking men are anxious for women to have the right to kill the product of their irresponsible behavior toward them. No skin off their teeth.

So, after 40 million abortions, the vast majority of these women, who do see themselves as victims of a cruel lie, are now not only vehemently pro-life, but they see that as the ONLY issue of interest for them in this election. All the men who were complicit in decisions to kill their offspring are equally as vocal and passionate in their desire to silence the nightmares and right an incredible injustice they perpetrated against their own child. And now, their children, treasured above all, have been taught that all life is precious and they in turn have taught their children for over 32 years the same hard, truthful lesson.

This is not to say that terrorism and the economy are not equally as important, but ironically, the candidate who supports all life, is also concerned about the safety of the living, and the basic right they all have to keep more of their income. He finds it hard, philosophically to separate freedom on one level from freedom on all levels. That is a principled statesman who bases all his decisions on absolutes and values based on a tried and true belief system that helped guide the men and women who founded this nation.

The other candidate has no such compass to determine the path of rightness, no matter how many churches he speaks in or how many times he quotes the Bible to try and win a few votes from those who understand that it is inconsistent to say you support the teachings of Jesus Christ, and support the evil of abortion. Honest people know that talk is cheap, and if it is not backed up by positive actions and votes, then it is also hallow.

So the tightness of the race is due to a division in the country over the very basic issue of human rights, dignity and . . .existence. And, as the Republicans in 1854 realized they must take a stand for what is right in their struggle to end slavery, today, they have as the corner stone of their platform the support of life for the unborn while the Democrats proudly announce their support of abortion, up until the point of birth of a viable, healthy, fellow citizen.

The arguments of body counts in war fall like empty bullets as they shoot holes in their own inconsistent and hypocritical rationales for every stance that contradicts the previous one. Their concern for the rich receiving tax cuts, when it is a fact that every single taxpayer received one, no matter how small their income, shows that they are not interested in running on a platform of truth, but a platform that continues to divide and destroy the nation.

So, let’s face the elephant and agree . . . if you are pro-life, and that is all you agree with President Bush on, then you have no choice but vote for him, unless you want to see the carnage continue. If you are pro-abortion, you have to see that this issue is death to our nation, much as slavery was, and understand that the Republican party’s first and most important purpose is to protect the rights of all citizens. And ironically, the elephant in the room . . . the obvious choice of people who treasure individual rights and liberties . . . is also the symbol of the Republican party. It can’t be more obvious than that, and the choice . . . literally, is yours.