"National Organization for Marriage" spending $300K to attack Tom Campbell

[Amerigo Vespucci]

WASHINGTON — The Republican contest to determine who will challenge California Sen. Barbara Boxer in the fall has focused so far on the bread-and-butter issues of the day – jobs, the economy and federal spending.

That's changing as the June primary draws closer. A national group opposed to gay marriage is trying to shift the focus to that lightning rod issue in the coming weeks, putting pressure on the candidate seen as the most moderate of the three GOP challengers.

Former congressman Tom Campbell, a supporter of gay marriage, finds himself under attack and his previous front-runner status reduced to a statistical tie with former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina in one poll. Another poll taken about the same time showed Campbell clinging to a narrow lead.

The National Organization for Marriage is spending $300,000 on television ads that liken Campbell to Boxer on taxes and gay marriage, calling them two peas in the same liberal pod.

Republicans who have been hard-liners on gay marriage and abortion typically perform well in GOP primaries in California but falter in general elections, when the voter base is far broader and more centrist. Republicans account for less than a third of the electorate.

A business professor who holds a doctorate in economics, Campbell is the kind of middle-of-the-road Republican who would be likely to give Boxer a tough challenge as she seeks a fourth term in the Senate. But his opposition to Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot initiative that enshrined a ban on gay marriage in the California Constitution, has made him a target of the social conservatives who dominate the ranks of the state GOP.

A recent poll from the Public Policy Institute of California found that 67 percent of Republicans disagree with Campbell on the issue. The same poll found that for the first time more Californians support gay marriage than oppose it.

The Public Policy Institute of California poll released in late March showed Campbell and Fiorina in virtual ties with Boxer in hypothetical general election matchups. Fiorina has said she believes marriage should be between a man and a woman.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/01/gay-marriage-to-become-go_n_521648.html

[joeybee12]

1. Campbell needs to become a Dem...this is like the umpteenth Repuke primary

he will lose in.