The war, the economy and immigration: these were the three top issues that concerned a batch of mostly elderly Republican voters sitting around a donut shop in the Texas panhandle town of Amarillo.

When asked what they thought about abortion and gay marriage, one of them quipped that “It’s none of our concern, none of us are gay.”

But on a more serious note one of the group, retired educator Jim Holmes, said they “didn’t discuss such things” at their regular chats over coffee and donuts.

That sets them apart from evangelical Republicans but local party chairman John Tyson said only about 20 percent of the local branch of the GOP fell into that category.

These self-described Republican guys had more bread and butter concerns.

Jim was jittery about the subprime crisis and derivative trading; Tom McKay, who has a grandson serving in Iraq, was worried about the war but said he’d “like to see victory”; and they all seemed to have concerns about illegal immigration.

Several thought Democratic front runner Hillary Clinton would come for her guns if she was elected president — a prospect viewed dimly in this windswept cattle region where men like to hunt and drive big big-up trucks.

Chatting a few hours before Wednesday night’s debate, like most Republicans they had not really made up their minds yet.

“I’m leaning toward one candidate, but he’s not a front runner,” Jim said cryptically.

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani’s tough guy stances and record on crime in New York seemed a crowd pleaser; and one remarked that Mitt Romney — or “the Mormon” as he put it –  was he thought the only one in the Republican field still married to his first wife.

But politics aside, some of the guys seemed more interested in an upcoming bird shoot they were planning. Hence probably their concern about keeping their guns …

Photo credits: Reuters/Stefano Rellandini, Jessica Rinaldi