WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- U.S. Republicans, led by President George W. Bush, have seized on the New Jersey Supreme Court ruling on civil unions as a campaign issue.
Bush Thursday brought the issue into his standard stump speech during an appearance in Iowa with Jeff Lamberti, who is running for Congress, The New York Times reported.
"Yesterday in New Jersey, we had another activist court issue a ruling that raises doubts about the institution of marriage," Bush told supporters at a fundraising lunch the Iowa State Fairgrounds.
Virginia Sen. George Allen, facing a stiff challenge from Democrat Jim Webb, attended a rally at a Baptist Church to support an initiative on the Virginia ballot banning gay marriage.
"It's an issue that's going to play a big role in the next 12 days," Allen's campaign manager, Dick Wadhams, told the Times.
The issue may not have the immediacy it did in 2004, just after the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that led to legalized same-gender marriage in that state. The New Jersey court found that gay couples are entitled to the benefits of marriage, but stopped short of ordering same-sex marriage.
