But, they are now back in California! Huzzah! And as you can see from the ad to the right, they're still up to their old fear-based campaigning methods. While Californians understand that there is a difference between Senator Boxer and Tom Campbell, NOM is trying to tie the two together as some sort of hippie love twins of John Maynard Keynes and Divine.
I would write up some witty commentary about the inanity of this ad, but a comment on the YouTube video pretty well sums it up:
Maggie Gallagher drinks water.
Joseph Stalin drank water!
Maggie Gallagher walks on two feet.
Adolph Hitler walked on two feet!
Maggie Gallagher wears black.
Darth Vader wore black!
Thanks, NOM, for the sophisticated political commentary.
To put in a more sophisticated way, you could pull a slew of policy areas where Boxer and Campbell disagree. Point to real climate change action, stimulating the economy, and getting people back to work, and Boxer has the advantage. But, NOM is simply afraid.
NOM is terrified that the Republicans will give up their hard-hearted and hardened positions on marriage equality in favor of a big tent approach that would welcome those who support marriage equality. They understand that when that happens, eventually those who support equality will ensure complete control of all branches of government. If Republicans are not dogmatic, the rapidly shrinking anti-equality movement will lose its public face in the political sphere. They need the dogma to persist, so they wrap their message in one of general conservatism, completely forgetting that real conservatives (small "c") prefer the government not making decisions such as who they can and cannot marry.
While the Right is afraid of Campbell, there is plenty of reason for us to be as well. While he takes a few socially libertarian positions, he is generally very right-wing on economic issues. He opposed most of the stimulus, which even the American Enterprise Institute has now said was successful at reducing the unemployment explosion. He opposes real environmental protections.
Senator Boxer has been working for every Californian for every day of her term, and will continue to do so for as long as she remains in the Senate.
