Rep. Marilyn
Musgrave has put her measure banning gay marriage on hold as
she launches her battle for reelection, waiting to see what
voters and the courts think about the proposed
constitutional amendment before she takes any further
action. The two-term Colorado Republican has new
worries after GOP leaders rated her as one of the 10 most
vulnerable Republicans in the country, even though she
represents a heavily Republican district.
The antigay
conservative firebrand angered sugar beet growers in her
district recently when she backed the Central American Free
Trade Act, which would cut subsidies for American
producers. Democrats say she is out of step with most
of her district in her support for fellow Republican
representative Tom Tancredo's campaign against illegal
immigrants.
In an interview
with the Associated Press, Musgrave said she is putting
her trademark legislation banning legal recognition of
same-sex marriage on hold as court battles over the
issue unfold at the state level. "We're kind of
waiting to see what happens. There is overwhelming
support for marriage to be defined as the union between a
man and woman. We'll see what happens before I run it
up again," she said.
Musgrave
dismissed her ranking as one of the 10 most vulnerable
Republicans by the Retain Our Majority Program, a political
action committee set up by House majority leader Tom
DeLay of Texas. She said she is confident of winning
reelection, despite the fact that her margin last year
was one of the narrowest among victorious House incumbents.
Musgrave blamed the close election on changes in campaign
finance laws that opened a loophole allowing the
creation of new, private groups, known as "527"
organizations. They are named for the section of
federal tax law that allows them to raise large sums of
election money as long as they do not coordinate
directly with a candidate's campaign.
Musgrave said gay
rights groups and others spent $2.5 million on
television advertising attacking her. One featured a
Musgrave-like actress with big hips stealing a watch
from a corpse while criticizing her vote against
barring nursing homes from charging fees after a patient
dies. Another showed a pink-suited Musgrave look-alike
picking the pocket of a soldier and referred to her
vote to cut veterans' benefits in a preliminary bill.
"They were brutal. My hips were not that big. I can't
compete with 527s," Musgrave said.
Joelle Martinez,
spokeswoman for the Colorado Democratic Party, said
Musgrave is out of step with her district on CAFTA and
same-sex marriage and said both issues will hurt her
in next year's election. She said sugar beet growers
have already called Democratic Party headquarters
saying they want her out of office. "I know there were a lot
of people who were shocked and surprised and willing
to do something," she said. Martinez said Musgrave
also upset unaffiliated and third party voters, who
see her gay marriage amendment as support for big government
and who are expected to make the difference in next year's
election. "I think that's why she's backing off this
big-government bill," she said.
