Religious conservatives turn on Bill Simon
Bill Simon, California's Republican gubernatorial candidate, has been a darling of religious conservatives throughout the campaign—so much so that the support was seen by some as a liability. As Weblog has noted, several California newspapers have attempted to paint him as an extremist.

But now it's Simon's old allies who say he's capitulating to an extremist agenda. Answering a questionnaire from the Log Cabin Republicans, an organization of homosexual party members, and speaking to the media this week, Simon announced he would continue the tradition of declaring a Gay Pride Day. He also said he wouldn't try to overturn existing laws allowing homosexuals to adopt children, and would even support domestic partnership laws, so long as they're not based on sexual orientation.

"Let's not premise this thing on having the government go in your bedroom," the San Francisco Chronicle quotes him saying on a radio show Tuesday. "What happens if my brother and I … why couldn't we be domestic partners, if we both lost our wives?" (Domestic partnerships that aren't tied to sexual orientation were also supported in a 1999 Christianity Today forum.)

"This is such a shock," says Randy Thomasson, executive director of Campaign for California Families, on his organization's website. "Gray Davis has shown himself to be corrupt on family values, and now Simon has shown himself to be untrustworthy on some of the same vital issues. Bill Simon has put pro-family voters in a very difficult position. It's very sad that voters are left with two candidates for governor, both of whom would undermine marriage and promote the gay agenda."

Also furious is Traditional Values Coalition chairman Lou Sheldon, whose son ...