The culture wars are not over.

Even as the likely presidential candidates in the fall, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, want to speak mostly about the economy, debates over issues such as abortion, faith and gay rights are almost certainly to play a major role in the 2012 campaign, as they do in nearly every election cycle.

Democrats in states across the country are pushing to legalize gay marriage, despite the protestations of Republicans and the silence of Obama, who has largely avoided taking a position on the issue. They have repeatedly highlighted controversial stands by the likely Republican candidates on issues such as birth control, which Rick Santorum has said he personally opposes.

Republicans, for their part, except for Romney, aren’t content to simply attack the president’s record on the economy, but have repeatedly questioned his moral values and religiosity. Over the weekend, Santorum criticized the president’s “theology.” In an interview Tuesday on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, the Rev. Franklin Graham was non-committal when asked if Obama or Romney are Christians.

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“I think the best thing for a person is to ask you directly, so I think people have to ask Barack Obama,” Graham said. “He’s come out saying that he’s a Christian, so I think the question is ‘What is a Christian?”

These controversies illustrate a divide between the political activists on the right and left who largely define the American political dialogue. Polls suggest most Americans believe the most important issue in 2012 is the economy.

But that hasn’t prevented discussions of Planned Parenthood, Catholic hospitals and whether they should provide contraceptives and the gender inequality at a recent hearing on Capitol Hill from dominating headlines the last few weeks.

These debates show the power of the elites in each party and their divide on issues that are very cultural. Democrats increasingly cast the GOP as not just wrong on economic issues, but intolerant of minorities, gays and women and uncaring about the poor.

Republicans meanwhile depict Democrats not just as the party that favors tax increases, but as valueless and uninterested in religion.

These stereotypes don’t fit either party neatly. Obama frequently speaks of his religious beliefs and values and how they affect his politics. Romney has said little about many of these moral value issues, which is why many more conservative Republicans have been so hesitant to support him.

Follow Perry Bacon Jr. on Twitter at @perrybaconjr