NEW YORK, NY — The economy, wars and rumors of war, healthcare, rampaging energy prices, rising unemployment and a mortgage crisis spiraling out of control might occupy the minds of lesser mortals, but something else tops the agenda of the most God-fearing Americans during this presidential election year.Porn.

According to right-wing watchdog Morality in Media, 75-percent of Americans surveyed in April by Harris Interactive on behalf of MIM said they would support the next president should he make obscenity prosecution a focus of his administration. Only 19-percent of survey respondents said they wouldn’t.

MIM is outraged neither Republican presumptive presidential nominee John McCain nor Democrat Barack Obama have weighed in significantly on the issue. Both men declined to attend a MIM-organized anti-porn rally in Washington in May, and both failed to respond to a follow-up letter, MIM President Robert Peters said.

He is perplexed about why, especially in light of an email he received from a concerned citizen August 7th. Peters indicated the email is typical of the level of concern about the issue among social conservatives.

“As a very concerned citizen, I have to wonder why pornography isn’t even an issue on the radar screen in the upcoming… elections,” the anonymous emailer wrote. “I can certainly understand why certain sectors of the population don’t bring it to the forefront, and I can understand why candidates don’t address it, but why don’t organizations like MIM bring it up constantly? I’d really like to nail down the candidates on their views and the methods they plan to use to enforce pornography laws, then hold them to it. Please, please, please do what you can — my letters and emails to candidates go unanswered!”

Peters said the time has come for his organization and others to do exactly what the letter-writer suggested.

“Can it be that John McCain and Barack Obama are more concerned about offending avid consumers of hardcore pornography than they are about the harms that obscenity is causing to our nation and to its communities, families and children?” Peters asked. “Or perhaps worse, can it be that neither candidate views the explosion of obscenity as a serious moral issue that merits their attention?

“Common sense ought to tell us that when millions of individuals of all ages become addicted to viewing hardcore pornography that depicts — among other things — adultery, pseudo child porn, barely legal teens, gang bangs, group sex, unsafe sex, bestiality, incest, sex with excrement, sex with she-males, male-on-male rape and the degradation, rape and torture of women, there will be problems.”

Peters cited the usual litany of problems attributed to adult entertainment: “the decline in and break up of marriages, promiscuity, the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, sexual abuse of children, sexual assaults against women, sexual trafficking in women and children, and on-the-job sexual harassment.”

He also added a new one: “The explosion of obscenity also undermines our nation’s efforts to combat religiously based terrorism.”

On Wednesday, worried that a presidential administration that does not focus on obscenity law enforcement will usher in another “eight-year free ride” for the adult-entertainment industry, MIM sent a letter to its members in which Peters urged the faithful to hold candidates’ feet to the fire until they answered two specific questions:

• “What is your position on enforcement of federal obscenity laws?”
• “If you support enforcement, will you nominate an attorney general who supports vigorous enforcement of these laws?”

“The American people deserve two answers [one from each camp] to the question, ‘If elected president, will you do all in your power to ensure that federal obscenity laws are enforced vigorously against commercial distributors of hardcore pornography?’” Peters noted. “At this point, it is not clear they will get even one.”