GOP Resorts to Gay Marriage & Anti-Christian Fear Mongering

In a last minute effort to support Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, Florida State Senator Marco Rubio and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee are participating in anti-gay marriage robocalls for a leading organization that opposes marriage equality, America Blog reports.

The two Republican politicians are lending their support to the National Organization for Marriage, a group determined to ban same-sex marriages across the nation. In its latest effort, NOM, which has endorsed Romney, is sending the calls to voters in Maryland, Maine and Washington State -- three states that will decide to legalize gay marriage on Nov. 6, or not. Minnesota would have been the fourth state targeted by the robocalls as voters will also decide on same-sex marriage this Tuesday, but state laws prohibit such calls.

The robocalls are also being sent out in some swing states where gay marriage is not on the ballot, Think Progress points out. Voters in Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania can expect to get a call from Rubio, Huckabee and James Dobson, the co-founder of the anti-gay group Focus on the Family.

"Even in these tough economic times, people know that the stability of the family is crucial and the need to preserve the institution of marriage has never been greater," NOM's president Brian Brown said. "These calls from leaders in public life will remind voters to go to the polls, to protect marriage, and to support public officials who will do the same."

Brown added that he expects the NOM to reach 10 million voters and that the robocalls campaign is the "largest national mobilization of traditional marriage voters in history." Additionally, he said the campaign cost $500,000.

In May, Rubio, who was considered a front-runner to be Romney's running mate until he chose Paul Ryan, said President Barack Obama endorsed gay marriage for "political reasons" in order to shift focus away from the economy, according to the Miami Herald.

"He doesn't want [the economy] to be what this election is about. And so it's not just on gay marriage, I think every week he'll roll out another issue to distract from it," he said. "And so it's not just on gay marriage, I think every week he'll roll out another issue to distract from it."

Rubio has made it clear that he does not support marriage equality himself because of religious reasons and says the decision to legalize same-sex marriage should be left up to the states.

"I believe marriage is a unique and specific institution that is the result of thousands of years of wisdom, which concluded that the ideal - not the only way but certainly the ideal - situation to raise children to become productive and healthy humans is in a home with a father and mother married to each other," Rubio told Christianity Today. "Does that mean people who are not in that circumstance cannot be successful? Of course not. It's not a discriminatory thing. I'm not angry at anyone because of it, but I also have to be honest about what I believe marriage should be in our laws."

Huckabee, a longtime conservative, made headlines this summer when he launched Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day - a "holiday" to support the Southern fast food chain that made headlines for opposing gay marriage, EDGE noted. The event called for people around the country to visit their local Chick-fil-A to show their support for the company. Despite boycotts from the LGBT community and allies, the day was a huge success.

Romney's campaign, meanwhile, is unleashing its own set of robocalls, specifically targeting Christian voters. According to StopPoliticalCalls.org, a voter in Fairfax, Va., received one of the calls, which claims that Obama is a "threat to our religious freedom."

"Christians who are thinking about voting for Obama should remember what he said about people of faith: 'They ... cling to guns or religion.' And remember when Obama forced Christian organizations to provide insurance c overage that was contrary to their religious beliefs?" the robocall asks. "That's the real Barack Obama. That's the real threat to our religious freedom. Mitt Romney understands the importance of faith and family. That's why so many leaders of the Christian community are supporting Romney."

It seems that Republicans in Florida are also attacking a teacher-turned-politician by comparing her to a child molester, Think Progress reports.

The Committee to Protect Florida, a Republican group, sent a mailing to Florida voters that links Karen Castor Dentel, who running for the State Legislature, to Jerry Sandusky. The ad claims because Dental is a member of the Florida Education Association, a group that opposed a bill to nix tenure for public school teachers, she would "rather protect bad teachers and the union" instead of "young and impressionable students." The mailing shows an image of Sandusky, who was convicted of child molestation while he was an assistant football coach at Penn State. Dentell, an elementary school teacher, is running as a Democratic challenger for the 30th District State House of Representatives seat.