In the wake of the recent election, some liberal faith groups are arguing that Americans have grown weary of the abortion and marriage debate, so they're attempting to redefine the 'values' label to encompass issues from the war in Iraq to energy independence.
Tom Perriello, senior adviser of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, said such issues are not political at their heart.
"Ideas like energy independence and climate change," he said. "These issues are defined by the boldness of their claim on moral rightness, not by where they fall on the political spectrum."
Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, said 'values voters' now have a lot more on their minds.
"The agenda," he said, "includes now poverty, economic justice, the war — the environment is an issue that's huge for younger white evangelical voters."
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., said he doesn't think conservatives have abandoned the bedrock issues of life and marriage, but advocates could have done a better job getting the message out.
"Clearly this last election cycle, our principles were not repudiated," he said. "But our execution was."
Carrie Gordon Earll, director of issue analysis at Focus on the Family Action, said it's all spin by liberal faith groups with an eye on co-opting the impact of values voters.
"That's the way the religious left is trying to paint this," she said. "If you vote based on a candidate's position on abortion or defense of marriage, then somehow you don't care about poverty, and you don't care about the war. That's not true."
