This week in the epic battle between the Culture Warriors and the Common Do-Gooders we learn more about the true priorities of the major players.

Jesus was a Carpenter and He only Built Three-Legged Stools At least, that is the only explanation Culture War Watch can think of for the ridiculous graphic and the accompanying article chiding the GOP for not keeping the "three-legged stool" of social, economic and defense conservatives together. Looks like Perkins is expanding on his "there's only one way to be a values voter" brand by opening a "there's only one way to be a Republican" franchise.

Since Legislative Solutions to the Abortion Issue Have Worked so Well in the Past: The Sequel Abortion is the main source of ammunition for Culture Warriors of all stripes. Culture War Watch has long been a critic of the way this issue is used as a political weapon. This year, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade brought with it the predictable protests and counter-protests. Luckily for the rest of us, there is a lot more to this issue than what has felt like a 35-year cultural tug-o-war. Pro-life individuals are expressing nuanced views on what it means to embrace that term, and in Congress pro-life and pro-choice advocates collaborated to pass a groundbreaking abortion reduction measure which commits resources to supporting women and families. More of that please. And less like this.

(We'd be remiss to not cheer the just-released statistics showing that the abortion rate has fallen to its lowest point since Roe vs. Wade. It's hard to hate on pro-choice and pro-lifers for scrapping over those spoils.)

Stereotypes still Handier than Actual Evidence FPL has been on a bit of a crusade about poor polling of Evangelical voters in the primaries. We have high hopes that this will be remedied by the time the Democrats vote in South Carolina this weekend. In the meantime, inquiring minds can turn to resources such as Beliefnet's recent poll and the panel they co-hosted today with Sojourners at GW University. One would think that this would be enough to get across the idea that Evangelicals have diverse political priorities and allegiances. But of course, this requires one to actually think.

The Honorable Ebenezer McMean Representing the State of New Heartlessness was the only "No" Vote The House of Representatives says poverty is bad and we have a moral obligation to fight it. It's about time.

This Week's Scorecard: The Roe anniversary is usually high season for the Culture Warrior, but the commitment of people of faith to speak out for their true values and the anti-poverty vote in the House are pretty big scores for the Common Do-Gooders. But, the entry of one more voice for the common good in the blogosphere from our friends at Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good is what put the Do-Gooders over the top this week.