Priorities

When one believes in something, a particular cause or principle, one can certainly have the right to advocate and vote based on this belief.
Yet should one expect an entire country, political party, or other group to adhere to the same, identical set of beliefs?
Politics, and legislative actions should be based on compromise, and a setting of priorities.
Our country faces significant difficulities ahead, yet looking at the actions of our voting public and our politicians, you would never know it.
Take for instance, the issue of gay marriage. Yes, there's lots of people in this country against the thought of two people, no matter how much they love each other, being allowed to marry if they share a common gender. Fine.
But, is this issue so critical that it should be a fundamental basis for political affiliation?
Why would anyone vote for someone simply because of his or her stance on gay marriage, while ignoring anything else that candidate stands for?
In looking at the priorities of the current administration and the Republican party, it astounds me how myopic a focus exists with these people.
We have a government and Republican party that cares more about gay marriage than nuclear proliferation.
We have a government and Republican party that cares more about the fate of a frozen embryo than the fate of a U.S. soldier.
We have a government and Republican party that cares more about about prolonging the suffering of a woman in a vegative state than defending our country from terrorist attacks.

Where are the priorities in our government and people? Why don't Christian conservatives who care so much about abortion and the sanctity of embryos work to make sure every child is a wanted and planned child, and elect leaders not based on ideologic grounds, but on competence and leadership qualities?
We as a country need to set our political priorities and regain our focus, before external factors will force us to do so.