A caller to Chris Core's talk radio show said the other night that the reason it is so hard to come together after this election is religion. I don't think he meant that one side or the other was more religious or was more responsible, but rather that religion was even part of it. We seemed to have reversed nearly 50 years of effort. When John Kennedy was elected, everyone was arguing that religion, in this case Catholicism, should not be important.

Now we have so called "moral values." The word coiners are using these words to advance their agenda. Moral values is as accurate as the Patriot Act, No Child Left Behind or death tax. This rebranding of issue is emotionally pushing issues, not advancing the debate. The brand name is not the same as good morals.

Words do matter. So maybe we can come together if we agree upon the words to frame the debate instead of brand names. We'll see if the Republicans, conservative commentators and right radio can do that.