In an election season dominated by fiscal issues, Iowa voters chose to oust three state Supreme Court justices (including the chief justice) who sanctioned same-sex marriage in 2009. It’s another example of social issues — marriage and judicial activism — being winners for Republicans at the ballot box, even in a year where jobs and budget drew most of the attention.

It’s time conservative-ish pundits stopped pooh-poohing non-economic issues as electorally harmful. Clearly, they’re not. Neither should they be seen as secondary or a distraction. Marriage and family are inextricably linked to our economic woes. You can’t deal with entitlements and the welfare state without acknowledging the harm caused by the upheaval of the traditional family during the last four decades. America’s fiscal crisis is a social crisis, too.