Independent Groups to Spotlight Steele's Opposition to Abortion
2006-10-23
Source: WTOP Radio
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rss feedThe Iraq war, the future of Social Security and the candidates' personal styles have all been major points of contention in the Senate race between Democratic Rep. Benjamin Cardin and Republican Lt. Gov. Michael Steele.
Rarely have the candidates mentioned abortion - but outside groups are doing it for them.
Religious leaders and abortion opponents plan to spend more than $140,000 in the final two weeks of the race to persuade "values voters" to go to the polls for Steele, The Washington Post reported in Sunday's editions.
The candidates' differences on the issue are stark. Steele, a former Catholic seminarian, opposes abortion. Cardin delivered the keynote address Saturday night at NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland's annual gala in Rockville, where he challenged Steele to elaborate on his anti-abortion views.
Independent groups plan to remind Maryland voters of those views in radio and television ads, direct mail and fundraising appeals leading up to the Nov. 7 election.
National Right to Life's political action committee plans to air radio commercials on Steele's behalf in western Maryland and the Eastern Shore in the week before the election. The group has spent more than $72,000 supporting the lieutenant governor's candidacy, according to the Federal Election Commission.
A group of religious leaders known as the Maryland Values Coalition has spent $70,000 on a series of ads aimed at encouraging churchgoing black voters in Prince George's County and Baltimore to "vote for candidates who defend life."
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