(Note: I’m the Public Policy Director for the Courage Campaign)
They’re baaaaaack. The National Organization for Marriage (NOM), one of the leading anti-gay groups in the country and a key opponent of same-sex marriage, is again pushing out a bizarre video ad that distorts the truth.
In the fall of 2008 NOM produced an ad filled with fear about same sex marriage to motivate their base to support Prop 8. The ad, “The Gathering Storm”, told the lie that marriage equality somehow threatened individual freedoms.
NOM is back again with a new ad attacking Barbara Boxer for her support of marriage equality, and claiming that Tom Campbell supports it too. The ad also focuses on other political issues, showing that NOM is trying to branch out and become a multi-issue right-wing organization.
The ad, which is part of a $500,000 ad buy, makes a big mistake when it comes to Tom Campbell. As this KNBC video shows from just 2 weeks ago, he doesn’t believe marriage rights for same-sex couples are included in the U.S. Constitution, opposing the federal trial of Prop 8.
As NOM rolls out its new ad campaign, California progressives need to hold them accountable and push back against their bull. That’s why the Courage Campaign is going to produce and air a response ad of our own. We need your help to fund it.
Click here to help us quickly get our response ad on the air — and let NOM know we’re not going to let them keep peddling their crap to Californians.
Below is the email we sent to our members today on this subject.
Dear Robert —
Did you see the new TV ad from the National Organization for Marriage? Same crap, different year.
Yep, the same people who launched the now infamous gays-are-gonna-get-you “Gathering Storm” ad across America last year are at it again. And this time, NOM is expanding their attack on supporters of same-sex marriage to California politics, including Senator Barbara Boxer.
NOM just launched a $500,000 TV ad campaign in California called “Two Peas, Same Liberal Pod” in an attempt to “expose” Sen. Boxer and Republican candidate Tom Campbell as politicians who “support gay marriage and opposed Proposition 8.”
As California progressives know, Tom Campbell is no Barbara Boxer.
But what NOM won’t tell you is that Tom Campbell does NOT support putting Prop 8 on trial. In fact, Campbell came out against the Prop 8 federal trial on KNBC two weeks ago, saying he doesn’t believe marriage rights for same-sex couples are included in the U.S. Constitution.
This crap has got to stop. And we need your help to stop it. Please contribute $20 or more right now to help us get an ad on the air ASAP that pushes back on NOM’s bull and holds them accountable. DEADLINE: Friday, 5 p.m.:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/stopNOMnow
Using same-sex marriage as bait, NOM is trying to pull a fast one on Republicans in the Senate primary. And they are using Carly Fiorina’s “Demon Sheep” tactics to do it (as you may know, Fiorina released a bizarre ad a few weeks ago — portraying Campbell as a demonic sheep — that was widely reviled and mocked by people across the political spectrum).
According to the NOM email sent yesterday to their members across the country:
“The ad documents that Campbell and Boxer both support increasing income taxes on Californians, favor raising the gasoline tax, support gay marriage and opposed Proposition 8. The ad says, ‘It’s time for conservative leadership.'”
Actually, it’s time for progressive leadership. As much as NOM wants to fool people into thinking Boxer and Campbell are twins separated at birth, the truth is that Tom Campbell’s conservative politics are way out of line with a majority of Californians.
Same crap. Different year. Stand up with the Courage Campaign right now and contribute $20 or more to air an ad ASAP that holds NOM accountable for their bull. DEADLINE: Friday, 5 p.m.:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/stopNOMnow
NOM’s attacks remind us that to win battles on progressive fronts — whether it’s providing universal health care, funding our schools, or allowing all Californians to marry the person they love — we have to fight for progressive leadership in California.
As a multi-issue advocacy organization, the Courage Campaign is fighting on all of these fronts to create a more progressive California. But we can’t do it alone, especially against NOM. Please forward this message to your friends and help us spread the word.
Thank you again for standing up for progressive values in California.
Rick Jacobs
Chair, Courage Campaign
I think that everything you said is technically correct, but it leaves the impression that Tom Campbell does not support gay marriage. He does. He also opposed Prop 8. He does believe that the voters have the right to define marraige in the ballot box, but that in this case the voters acted wrongly.
I understand that this is not exactly as Barbara Boxer believes, but it is not a typical Republican stance either.