President Bush plans to speak out in support of the “Marriage Protection Amendment” this week (which makes you wonder if he’s talking about protecting it from this guy). I’ll have more on Mr. Bush’s appeal to bigotry as the story unfolds, but here’s a tidbit plucked from today’s Washington Post that should give you an idea of what this is really about:

The issue has already emerged in some of this year’s races.

In one North Carolina congressional district, for instance, Republican challenger Vernon Robinson has aired a radio ad attacking Democratic Rep. Brad Miller with mariachi music playing in the background: “Brad Miller supports gay marriage and sponsored a bill to let American homosexuals bring their foreign homosexual lovers to this country on a marriage visa. If Miller had his way, America would be nothing but one big fiesta for illegal aliens and homosexuals.”

Miller voted against the Marriage Protection Amendment in 2004, saying the matter should be left to the states. “The republic has survived pretty well for 220 years with marriage based on state law,” he said yesterday. “I don’t think we ought to amend the constitution every time a politician wants to campaign on an issue.” Miller said he supports North Carolina law banning same-sex marriage but is open to civil unions between gay partners.

How about that? You get both gay-bashing and anti-immigration rhetoric in one campaign commercial: the horrifying vision that hordes of queer brown guys are going to sashay over the border from Mexico, pick tomatoes, and steal your teenage son.

Mr. Robinson is a perennial candidate who makes news by his outrageousness, but the message that he’s delivering isn’t too far off the mark of what the Republicans and the president are up to.