Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyPosts Tagged As: Tom Campbell
This commentary is the opinion of the author and may not necessarily reflect that of other authors at Box Turtle Bulletin
May 21st, 2010
California Senator Barbara Boxer has long been a friend of our community. But she has also long been considered a relatively weak candidate, and as the Democrat is 168 years old (ok, really only 69) and this is a “mid-term election”, there is a good chance that she could be defeated in November. Our community should be very concerned about who her Republican opponent will be.
There are three candidates for the Republican nomination:
Chuck Devore – Devore is the choice of the hard-core right. He’s is the old-school family values candidate who is running for office so as to protect the family from horrible people like you, me, and sinners of various flavors. He’s endorsed by the usual collection of knuckle-draggers.
Carly Fiorina – Fiorina is the “business candidate”. She was a successful executive at Hewlett Packard and is probably somewhat moderate on social issues. However, she is trying to sell herself as a “conservative” and thus distinguish herself from Campbell (including the now infamous Demon Sheep ad which seriously backfired). Fiorina created domestic partnership programs at HP, but also voted for Proposition 8. She has the endorsement of Sarah Palin.
Tom Campbell – Campbell is a fiscal conservative and social moderate, and a long-time friend of our community. In October 2008, Campbell wrote a piece for Reason Magazine in which he argued that Republicans should support gay marriage and oppose Proposition 8.
Depending on what poll you read, Campbell is either slightly ahead or about tied with Fiorina. And there are only three weeks left before the primary election. He needs our support.
That Campbell is an ally is a good reason to support him in the California Republican Primary. That he’s much needed in Washington is another.
Campbell is uniquely equipped to address the problems we are currently facing. Tom has a PhD in economics and has taught law at Stanford, with a particular emphasis on the application of economics to legal problems. It’s known in political circles that Tom is usually “the smartest person in the room.”
If there is one thing that the Senate is lacking, it’s people who understand economics. Or perhaps those who can do remedial math.
Campbell is a fiscal conservative, but not in a crazy way. Although he’s been twice rated as the most “fiscally responsible” member of Congress, he refuses to sign the wacky “no taxes” pledges or make promises that sound good to ideologues but are irresponsible in practice.
But perhaps the most convincing argument as to why you should support Tom Campbell is that the National Organization for Marriage has been running a campaign against him. Their biggest fear is that California might send a Republican to the Senate who supports marriage equality and harm their divisive game of playing one party off the other. If Campbell were to be elected, it would send a message that Republicans too can support basic fairness and equality.
So NOM has been running ads in the state trying to claim that Campbell is no different from “liberal Barbara Boxer”, in the hopes of hurting him in the primary. Tom, to his credit, has been classy in his response, refusing to throw us under the bus for a few votes. They have now started a campaign of robo-calls.
“The explicit message of this campaign is: don’t vote for Tom Campbell, because he supports gay marriage as well as raising taxes,” said Brian Brown, President of NOM, in a statement.
This is a blatant appeal to bigotry.
I desperately do not want this election to give NOM more perceived power or greater influence over the positions of future candidates. If Tom loses, there is no question but that they will threaten any other Republican who considers abandoning homophobia or anti-gay policies.
Please take a moment to consider whether and how you can help Tom Campbell and give him a chance to present his case against Barbara Boxer. I would very much like to know that whoever wins in November, California’s Senator will remain supportive of my rights.
(Please note that decline-to-state or independent voters may request the primary ballot of any party and can vote for Campbell in June)
March 15th, 2010
Today the National Organization for Marriage released an ad attacking California GOP Senate candidate Tom Campbell. They said that his views on income taxes, gas taxes, and (gasp) gay marriage are no different from those of “liberal Barbera Boxer”.
Campbell’s team is crying, “No fair”
Campbell spokesman James Fisfis said the campaign is more upset that the ad compares Campbell to Boxer on taxes. He says the two are worlds apart on that issue.
Gotta love that answer.
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