Having grown up in the oh-so-old-fashioned commonwealth of Virginia, I've never seen a ballot initiative up close and personal. I've never signed a petition to get one on the ballot. Never voted for or against it. Never attended a rally protesting the results (as one of my friends in California did last night). My political junkie-ness has generally been confined to candidate races.

Needless to say, I find ballot initiatives oddly fascinating. There were a lot this election cycle-- 153, in fact.

These initiatives ran the gamut—from “death with dignity”/right to die in Washington (which passed) to more humane treatment of farm animals in California (which appears to have passed).

The outcomes of these initiatives are interesting, especially in light of the “culture war” rhetoric Sarah Palin infused into the campaign. While McCain calls himself a federalist and believes marital law should be left to the states, Palin spoke out in favor of a federal amendment to ban gay marriage. (She also supported a 1998 ballot in Alaska to ban same-sex marriage. )

Bans of this type were on the ballot this week in three states: Florida, California, and Arizona. All passed.

On the other hand, three states had initiatives about reproductive rights, all of which went the more liberal direction. South Dakota defeated a stringent near-ban on abortion, California defeated a parental notification requirement, and a "personhood" amendment in Colorado was soundly turned down.

So, all three anti-gay rights measures passed and all three anti-abortion measures failed. In a time of economic anxiety and a growing desire to find common ground, it's not surprising to me that these "wedge" issues didn't entirely motivate voters the way social conservatives wanted. But it's still interesting that in an election cycle where even white evangelicals-- typically a socially conservative bunch-- didn't rank abortion or same-sex marriage as one of their top five concerns, same-sex marriage bans passed.

Also interesting is the role of young voters here. It's still not clear to me whether youth turnout was as high as suggested/anticipated, but if it had been, I would've expected the inverse.

After all, young evangelicals are even more staunchly anti-abortion than their parents. The Colorado "personhood amendment" was actually drafted by a young, conservative evangelical Christian and endorsed by local stalwarts of the Religious Right-- Focus on the Family.

On the other hand, young evangelicals are much more open and accepting of gays and lesbians. Over 50% of this group approve of either same-sex marriage or civil unions.

This election was certainly not animated by these hot-button issues as elections past have been, and for that I'm grateful. I think Americans have a lot more to talk about, to work together on, and to make progress on than abortion and gay marriage. But I'm still puzzled... any ideas?

P.S. Stay tuned for more ballot initiative analysis tomorrow!