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It wasn't all that long ago that Republicans used gay marriage as a tool to drive Election Day turnout. But as public opinion on the issue has turned and courts strike down same-sex marriage bans, gay rights is evolving into a wedge issue for Democrats to wield.

Consider Pennsylvania, where Democrats have lambasted Republican Gov. Tom Corbett for comparing gay marriage to incest. Facing a tough re-election campaign, Corbett decided this week not to appeal a federal court ruling striking down the state's ban of gay marriage.

Or Colorado, where Democratic Sen. Mark Udall is hitting his Republican challenger for casting votes that denied gay people protection from discrimination. In Arizona, Democrats plan to hammer Republican legislators who passed a law allowing businesses to refuse to serve gays for religious reasons.

"We're just beginning to see this, and we will see a lot more in the midterms," said Richard Socarides, an activist who was President Bill Clinton's adviser on gay rights. "It will be an incredible shift by the time we get to the (presidential) election in 2016."

That election will arrive 20 years after Republicans in Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibited federal recognition of same-sex marriage. Clinton signed the bill defensively, worried the GOP would use it as a campaign issue, Socarides said. Republican activists put anti-gay marriage initiatives on the ballot in 11 states in 2004, helping President George W. Bush win re-election with the support of conservative religious voters motivated to turn out to support the bans.

Connie Mackey, head of the conservative Family Research Council's Political Action Committee, said that's still a solid strategy. Voters still oppose gay marriage, she argued, and Republicans should not let themselves get faked out by overconfident Democrats.

"The people in the states think one way and the establishment and the courts are showing a different face," Mackey said.

But gay marriage, supported by less than one-third of Americans in 2004, is now supported by a solid majority in recent polls, with approval highest among younger voters. Some Republicans believe that mounting public support represents a danger to their party, and they are scrambling to prevent Democrats from using the issue of gay rights in the same way some in their own party did for years.

"They want to bait Republicans into talking about the issue in a way that ties them to a negative, national Republican brand," said Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist who hasn't taken a position on gay marriage. "They need to stir up their base and create outrage."

Nevada Republicans dropped their opposition to gay marriage last month from the state party's platform, and a national campaign is underway to remove such language from the national party platform in 2016. Major Republican donors have formed a coalition to push the party to become more gay-friendly.

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Shifting Views on Gay Marriage Now Favor Democrats

Democrats named five lawmakers to the U.S. House select committee investigating the deadly 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi took the advice of senior lawmakers who said it would be better to have people in the room for hearings that Democrats have criticized as overtly political. Other Democratic lawmakers had favored boycotting them entirely.

I believe we need someone in that room to simply defend the truth, said Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He will be the ranking Democrat on the Benghazi panel, Pelosi said.

Other Democratic members named are Representatives Adam Smith of Washington state, the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee; Adam Schiff and Linda Sanchez of California; and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois.

Congress started investigating the Benghazi attacks less than a month after they occurred on Sept. 11, 2012, calling attention to the Obama administrations initial statement that the violence stemmed from spontaneously inspired demonstrations over an anti-Islamic video.

Officials later said attackers with links to terrorist groups stormed a diplomatic compound and set fire to it. That attack, and another one hours later at a CIA annex, killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

The House voted 232-186 on May 8 to create a select committee to investigate the attacks and the White House response, which Republicans have called a cover-up.

Democrats have said the panel is politically driven, designed partly to damage Hillary Clinton, a potential presidential candidate in 2016 who was secretary of state at the time of the attacks.

Pelosi of California, who has said that past House inquiries didnt give Democrats an adequate say in decisions, met yesterday for an hour with House Speaker John Boehner to discuss terms of participation in the panel.

Representative Trey Gowdy, a South Carolina Republican and former prosecutor who will lead the committee, said in an interview yesterday that the seven Republican members will hold an organizational meeting this week.

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Democrats Join House Benghazi Panel They Opposed Forming

Rahm Emanuel Immigration Reform Will Get Done

By: Shauna Goold

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Rahm Emanuel Immigration Reform Will Get Done - Video

Indianapolis 500 Ad: Pass Immigration Reform Now
"America is a nation of laws. But it is also a nation of immigrants." Bibles, Badges and Business will run an ad this weekend near the entrances to the Indianapolis 500 Motor Speedway. Sheriff...

By: bbbimmigration

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Indianapolis 500 Ad: Pass Immigration Reform Now - Video

U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) (L-R) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) hold a news conference after a Republican Party caucus meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington May 20, 2014. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3Q1PA

The immigration fight has moved inside the House of Representatives since the Senates comprehensive reform bill passed last summer, and its beginning to intensify in the dichotomy between the supporters of its two chief leaders, Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor.

Eric Cantor is the number one guy standing between the American people and immigration reform, pro-reform Americas Voice Executive Director Frank Sharry said on a conference call with Democratic activists earlier this week, according to the Associated Press.

Reformers allege that future speakership ambitions and a tea party primary challenge on June 10 have pushed the Virginia Republican to stiffen, drag it out or not address immigration at all to appease tea party House members and voters. Those same factors have reportedly driven a wedge between the already divided top two tiers of the lower chambers leadership.

Boehner criticized his House Republican colleagues last month for avoiding immigration, alleging they viewed the issue as too hard.

We get elected to make choices. We get elected to solve problems and its remarkable to me how many of my colleagues just dont want to, Boehner said. Theyll take the path of least resistance.

Cantor spokesmanDoug Heye challenged the assertions against Cantor, citing the majority leaders announcement with Republican House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte last summer to propose legislation granting citizenship to undocumented immigrants brought into the U.S. as children illegally.

Heye also pointed to Cantors commitment last year to help California Republican Rep. Jeff Denham bring a bill to the floor offering similar citizenship to undocumented children brought in illegally in exchange for military service.

The bill with Goodlatte has yet to materialize and Cantors office announced last week that Denhams proposal, dubbed the ENLIST Act, would not come to the floor for a vote this year as part of 2015s defense authorization bill, for which Cantor scheduled a Thursday vote. According to Heye, both of those conversations are still ongoing.

On the issue of kids, he thinks thats a great place to start and wants to continue to work on that. He supports the principle behind the ENLIST Act, Heye said. These are things that he believes because theyre the right things for him to do. Its not a political calculation. Eric Cantors position on immigration remains consistent.

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Tension rises in GOP leadership over immigration