WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Hot-button political issues are being pushed aside by the Iraq war and the U.S. economy this presidential election cycle, a newspaper's analysis indicates.

Rather than discussing contentious social issues such as abortion, gay rights and affirmative action, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama are instead speaking about their views on the war and their policies on energy and taxes, the Detroit Free Press reported Sunday.

"Michigan voters aren't looking for another Washington politician who tried to score points by dividing people," the Obama campaign said in a statement that came in response to a Free Press question about the role guns, gay rights and abortion would play in the campaign.

In 2000, in response to a question from The Boston Globe about abortion, McCain said he'd "like to have less intensity on this issue."

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