Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt
Romney is the latest Republican to endorse anti-gay Georgia
gubernatorial hopeful Karen Handel.
“A successful businesswoman and
public servant, Karen Handel's blend of executive, political and
business experience is just what Georgia needs at this critical
time,” Romney said in his endorsement.
Handel, who currently serves as
Georgia's Secretary of State, has said she objects to gay marriage
and any form of legal recognition for gay and lesbian couples,
including domestic partnerships and civil unions. In a
recent interview with Atlanta-based NBC affiliate 11 Alive,
Handel, the likely Republican nominee, said she would outlaw gay
adoption.
When interviewer Doug Richards, who was
traveling with the Handel campaign, asked her about gay parenting,
Handel said she would “absolutely” consider a law banning gay
adoption.
“I think that for a child to be in a
household – in a family in a household with a situation where the
parents are not married, as in one man and one woman, is not the best
household for a child,” she said.
Richards pursued the question further,
annoying his subject.
He asked, “It is better or worse than
a single parent household?”
“Doug, I'm really trying to be
straightforward with you but I'm not going to debate all the nuances.
I've made it abundantly clear that I think that marriage is between
a man and a woman. And that's what I believe, and I don't know what
more you would like me to add to that,” she said.
Richards answered that he wanted to
know why Handel believes gay parents “aren't as legitimate” as
their heterosexual counterparts.
To which Handel, sounding like a mother
scolding her child, replied: “Because I don't.”
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has
also endorsed Handel, who is considered the front runner among
Republicans to win the party's August 10 primary. The winner will
face former Georgia
Governor Roy Barnes in the fall.
“I'm proud to lend my support to a
great commonsense conservative woman running for governor this year
in the Peach State,” Palin
wrote on her Facebook page two weeks ago. “Though considered
an underdog candidate (more power to her!), this pro-life,
pro-constitutionalist with a can-do attitude and a record of fighting
for ethics in government is ready to serve in the Governor's Office.”
POLITICO.com reported Friday that Palin
will visit Georgia to campaign on Handel's behalf on the eve of the
Republican contest.