A spokesperson for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jim Webb (right) says a new ad from the George Allen campaign distorts Webb’s position on gay marriage. (Photo by AP)
A controversial new radio ad from the campaign of Virginia Sen. George Allen (R) contends that his Democratic opponent in next month’s election, Jim Webb, would like to “change the definition of marriage.”
“This Election Day you’ll have the opportunity to stand up to the Jim Webbs of the world, to the people who want to weaken marriage,” the ad states. “Jim Webb, Hillary Clinton and their liberal allies in Washington don’t want to give constitutional protection to traditional marriage. If they don’t share our values on something as basic as marriage, how can we trust them on any issue?”
The ad references the Marshall-Newman Amendment, which would ban same-sex marriage, civil unions and domestic partnerships in the Virginia Constitution. The measure will appear on the Nov. 7 ballot.
Allen backs the amendment. Webb, along with a slew of state attorneys and elected officials including Gov. Tim Kaine, has said he opposes it because it is too broadly worded and would have unintended consequences for unmarried straight couples.
Webb spokesperson Kristian Denny Todd said she was not surprised that Allen’s campaign used “divisive” and “hot button” language.
“We knew the Allen campaign would use this issue to divide Virginians,” Todd said. “It draws attention away from the real issues and drives [voter] turnout for conservatives.”
Allen distorted Webb’s position on gay marriage “to a degree,” according to Todd. She said the ad is meant to stir emotions and incite fear among conservative voters.
She said the ad inhibits a meaningful dialogue about the issue, but said it stopped short of gay baiting. The Allen commercial reiterates his support for the state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. Allen also emphasizes in the ad his belief in “strong families” and that he will “fight to protect traditional marriage.”
“We don’t need the Hollywood liberal values of Jim Webb and Hillary Clinton,” the ad continues. “We’re just fine with our solid Virginia values.”
Webb opposes gay marriage, but in a statement to the Blade in August, he said he supports civil unions and gay-inclusive employment non-discrimination laws. He also said he believes the government’s influence “should end at our front door, absent a compelling reason to come inside.
“I think that all people should enjoy the same rights and privileges under the law,” Webb said in the statement. “That is why it is important that we have laws that protect people from gender discrimination in the workplace. It’s why we need to allow for domestic partner benefits and why we cannot use the Constitution to restrict people’s rights.”
The Webb campaign has recorded its own ad to counter Allen’s. It is currently airing on radio stations in Southwest Virginia only.
“It lays out Jim’s position that he’s concerned about the fairness of the issue and the language of the amendment,” Todd said.
Allen’s campaign did not return calls seeking comment.
Recent polls reveal that the race between Allen and Webb is a dead heat with less than two weeks until Election Day. The campaign has attracted national attention as Democrats seek to pick up the six seats they need to retake the Senate from GOP control.
Fundraising fight continues
The latest campaign finance reports for the Commonwealth Coalition, which opposes
the Marshall-Newman Amendment, and Va4Marriage.org, which supports the amendment, were published Oct. 18 on the Virginia Public Access Project website at www.vpap.org. The breakdown of funds raised is listed according to individual donors.
The Commonwealth Coalition raised a total of approximately $761,000 through last month, according to the project’s website, which reported that 86 percent of contributions were for more than $500 with only 14 percent less than or equal to $500. Va4Marriage reported it had raised a total of $204,669.
According to the Commonwealth Coalition, notable contributions include $25,000 each from the Human Rights Campaign and Mark Warner’s One Virginia Political Action Committee. The largest individual contribution came from Richmond businessman Ivor Massey, who donated $10,000. The majority of the funding came from Virginia and Washington organizations and individuals, as well as a $75,000 contribution from the Gill Action Fund in Denver.
The law firm Arnold & Porter topped the Commonwealth Coalition’s donor list with a contribution of $190,642 in the form of a free analysis of the amendment documenting its potential legal consequences.
Leslie Nickel, a partner with the firm and one of the authors of the document, said a dozen lawyers, associates and clerks worked on the analysis for months pro bono.
“This was an effort to educate Virginia voters on the potential impact of the amendment,” she said. “It was doing a public service by providing information.”
Nickel didn’t know if the effort would spur other organizations and individuals to give large amounts to defeat the amendment, but said it was a challenging experience for the lawyers and associates involved.
“It was a complicated amendment,” she said. “It was a good exercise for them to analyze such a complicated proposal and determine the potential impact of it.”
The report includes contributions made through the end of September, but money continues to roll in. “To Keep Us Safe” is a consortium of Washington-area professional associations of doctors, lawyers and business owners who came together to raise funds to defeat the amendment at a fundraising party last week.
The party, held at HRC headquarters in the District, raised $40,000 for the coalition, organizers said. Speakers included James Hormel, the gay U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg; gay D.C. Councilmember David Catania; former HRC Executive Director Tim McFeeley; and Kristen Muenzen of GAYLAW. Kelly Young was the organizer of the event and said it was the largest single fundraising event for the Commonwealth Coalition with 100 people in attendance.
“We did better than we thought,” Young said. “Our initial hopes were a good bit lower. We did it all in about three or four weeks as a personal project with volunteers.”
HRC provided the space and the coalition helped get the word out, supplied literature and provided staffing.
The largest donation to Va4Marriage came from John Templeton, Jr., a retired physician from Bryn Mawr, Pa., and president of the John Templeton Foundation. The foundation’s mission is “to encourage progress in scientific and religious knowledge and enhancement of character development and free enterprise,” according to the group’s website.
Templeton has also given smaller sums to conservative groups and politicians this year, including $1,000 to Building a Better Virginia, $2,500 to Republican House Del. Jeff Frederick and $500 to Virginia Conservative Action Political Action Committee. Templeton was out of the country and unavailable for comment this week.
Other large contributors to Va4Marriage included Family Foundation, Richmond, at $44,277; the Arlington Group, at $5,970; Ann M. Corkery, $4,672; and CDR Communications at $4,100. Many of the other contributors were businesses and individuals who donated smaller amounts ranging from $3,300 down to $5.
In the last month of election season, some conservative politicians are beginning to rethink their position on the amendment. At a news conference last week, three conservative Democrats announced they had changed their minds on the issue.
Virginia House minority leader Franklin Hall, Del. Dwight Clinton Jones, who is also senior pastor of First Baptist Church of South Richmond, and Del. A. Donald McEachin of Henrico said they voted in favor of the amendment during the general assembly, but now plan to vote against it next month, according to a report in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Although they agree with the first sentence, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman, they now say the language of the rest of the amendment is too broad. Jones, who also serves as chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, said that he is upset that the amendment has been made into a religious issue and is not needed.
“Over the past 37 years that I have been marrying individuals, I have never once had a request for same-sex marriage,” Jones said. “Voting against the amendment does not suggest that an individual does not believe that a marriage is between a man and a woman.”
Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, campaign manager of the Commonwealth Coalition, said her organization has some conservative Republican allies, too, including Chris Greggerson, who’s running for the state House of Delegates, 45th District.
Earlier this week, Kaine along with his wife Anne Holton, former Virginia Gov. Linwood Holton and former first lady “Jinks” Holton held a news conference to announce their opposition to the amendment.
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