In Md. Race, Groups Court 'Values Voters'

Abortion Becomes a Defining Issue

Religious leaders and abortion foes are pumping more than $140,000 into the final two weeks of the Maryland U.S. Senate contest to motivate "values voters" by elevating such issues as abortion and same-sex marriage in a campaign that has largely been fought over the Iraq war, the future of Social Security and the candidates' disparate styles.

The issue of abortion, though, offers one of the starkest contrasts in the race: Republican Michael S. Steele, a former Catholic seminarian, strongly opposes the practice. Democrat Benjamin L. Cardin, a Baltimore congressman, was the keynote speaker at NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland's annual gala last night in Rockville.

Although the two major candidates rarely bring up the subject unprompted on the campaign trail, independent groups plan to highlight the issue in radio and television ads, direct mail and fundraising appeals leading up to Nov. 7.

National Right to Life's political action committee plans to run radio commercials on Steele's behalf in Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore in the week before the election and has spent more than $72,000 supporting the lieutenant governor's candidacy with ads and mail, according to the Federal Election Commission.

A coalition of religious leaders last week released a series of ads aimed at energizing churchgoing African American voters in Prince George's County and Baltimore to "vote for candidates who defend life." The 30-second spots do not mention Steele by name, but Bishop Harry R. Jackson Jr., the organizer, said voters will get the message when they review the candidates' records in guides distributed in 150 churches.

"We're promoting values voting, and in this case it means Steele is our big choice," said Jackson, the senior pastor of Hope Christian Church in Lanham.

NARAL's national affiliate, meanwhile, has appealed to thousands of abortion rights supporters throughout Maryland to contribute to Cardin's campaign. The message delivered through e-mail last week was titled "Don't let Bush 'Steele' Your Choice in Maryland." And women's rights leaders, including National Organization for Women President Kim Gandy, gathered yesterday in Bethesda to take issue with Steele's recent assertion that his opinion on the 1973 Supreme Court decision to legalize abortion is "moot."

"Maybe he slept through ninth-grade civics class," Gandy said. "The last time I looked at the Constitution, the Senate has to consent to every federal court nominee."

Independent candidate Kevin Zeese -- who has the backing of the Green, Populist and Libertarian parties -- supports abortion rights but called the issue a "diversion from the major issues of our militaristic foreign policy and an economy that favors the wealthiest while the middle class struggles."

In the governor's race, the issue has not arisen because both candidates generally support abortion rights. Although Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. favors some limitations, he has done nothing to press them in his tenure.

Of the candidates, political pollsters and professors say Steele has the most to gain -- and lose -- from the attention as he tries to secure his GOP base, attract black Democrats and appeal to independents with a message of moderation.

Steele's challenge, they said, is to attract so-called values voters without turning off a broader audience in a state where the majority consistently tell pollsters that they believe abortion should be legal.