If you’ve been following the Republican race for governor lately, you're probably under the impression that they think gay people – not the economy, not unemployment, not education cuts – are the single biggest challenge facing the future of our great state.

Team Deal aired an ad attacking Karen Handel’s positions on gay issues – charges she vehemently disputes.

Team Ox set up a website devoted largely to alleging that Handel is sympathetic to gays – something she adamantly denies.

Now, Handel, who left her broken home at age 17, is saying gay parents are not as good as straight ones, and they should not be able to adopt children, according to 11Alive.

President Barack Obama got served today by Republican gubernatorial candidate Karen Handel and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer.

Brewer, who recently signed the nation’s toughest immigration law, endorsed Handel for governor of Georgia. As Republicans are seeking to one-up each other on who can make life most miserable for illegal immigrants, Handel is citing her battle with the Obama Administration over whether she can check voters’ citizenship – a process the Justice Department says results in minority citizens being wrongfully kicked off the voter rolls. Attorney General Eric Holder is also considering challenging the Arizona law, which requires police to check criminal suspects' citizenship.

From the Team Handel news release:

In her endorsement, Governor Brewer said:

Five Republican candidates for governor – Eric Johnson, Nathan Deal, Ray McBerry, Jeff Chapman and John Oxendine – got the stamp of approval from Georgia Right to Life today.

Notably absent from that list is Karen Handel, a fact the other candidates are sure to remind voters of in the coming weeks.

Georgia Right to Life endorses candidates who support outlawing abortion except to save the life of the mother, amending the Constitution to give rights to the unborn, limits on in vitro fertilization and criminalizing abortion based on race or gender.

"Ms. Handel proclaims herself pro-life; however, she does not meet the 21st century demands of being pro-life,” GRTL President Dan Becker said on the group’s blog.

John Oxendine continues to lead the Republican field for governor, but almost 40 percent of voters are undecided, according to an Insider Advantage/WSB poll released today.

The poll puts Oxendine at 23 percent, Nathan Deal at 15 percent and Karen Handel at 14 percent. Eric Johnson had 5 percent, and Jeff Chapman and Ray McBerry both clocked in at 2 percent. Otis Putnam has 0 percent, which means that, given the margin of error, he could actually have negative 5 percent support. Thirty-nine percent were undecided.

So, Oxendine continues his downward drift (he had been polling the high 20s to low 30s). Deal and Handel are holding steady. Johnson is still not getting any traction despite a recent small TV buy. But Insider Advantage CEO Matt Towery reminds us that it’s still early.

A host of fissures in the Republican Party are opening up during qualifying week.

There’s the strange saga of Ray Boyd, the self-funded millionaire candidate for governor turned away by the GOP today because he refused to sign a loyalty oath.

If Boyd follows through and runs as an independent, Democrats will be jumping up and down. Assuming his $2 million investment can buy him even 5 percent of the vote, combined with a Libertarian candidate who is likely to draw 3 or 4 percent, Boyd could potentially turn what would have been a sizeable Republican victory into a runoff.

Meanwhile, state Rep. Austin Scott is playing Hamlet, trying to decide whether to continue with his long-shot bid for governor or switching over to try to oust Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle. It’s a sign of Cagle’s unpopularity and voters’ anti-incumbent attitude that Scott is even considering it.

Here’s a sampling of the many, many, many statements politicians released on Monday, following the health care vote:

Gov. Sonny Perdue: “I am today (Monday) renewing my December request to the Attorney General that he join other states in reviewing the constitutionality of this travesty. My office has already begun to review any and all legal options to challenge this legislation.”

John Oxendine: “I urge our legislature to act quickly to pass a bill that requires the state’s attorney general to sue the federal government to challenge the constitutionality of this legislation.”

The Democratic Party of Georgia sent out five news releases over the past few days mocking five Republican Georgia congressmen for taking credit for stimulus projects back home when they voted against the stimulus package.

Among the culprits: Rep. John Linder, who solicited stimulus grants for in-car laptops for Walton County sheriff’s deputies and bulletproof vests for Barrow County deputies, and Sens. Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss, who took credit for University of Georgia financial aid and teacher hiring in Clarke County, according to the DPG.

Unlike Rep. Phil Gingrey, grip-and-grin photos of our congressman Paul Broun holding an oversized check have not emerged, but I dug up this nugget from March 2009 out of the files:

An Insider Advantage poll released today (subscription only) shows that almost half of Republican voters haven’t decided who they’ll vote for for governor.

The poll shows Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine in the lead at 25 percent, followed by a statistical three-way tie between former Secretary of State Karen Handel (10 percent), U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal (9 percent) and former state Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson (7 percent). State Rep. Austin Scott and states’ rights activist Ray McBerry are spinning their wheels at 3 and 1 percent, respectively. State Sen. Jeff Chapman, R-Brunswick, was not included. Forty-five percent are undecided.

President Barack Obama’s meeting with House Republicans today quickly turned ugly, as Obama accused the GOP of obstructing and demonizing his policies, while Republicans insisted the president wasn’t listening to them.

“What happens is that you guys don’t have a lot of room to negotiate with me,” Obama said, according to The Politico. "The fact of the matter is, many of you, if you voted with the administration on something, are politically vulnerable with your own base, with your own party because what you've been telling your constituents is, ‘This guy's doing all kinds of crazy stuff that's going to destroy America.' ''

And who would say a thing like that? Maybe this guy.

Six Republican candidates for governor will be debating at 7 p.m. today at the University of Georgia.

The debate isn’t open to the public, but it will be broadcast on WNEG (channel 6 for Charter customers). No liveblog, since television makes them sort of redundant, but I’ll post here if there are any fireworks, so check back.

Confirmed candidates include state Sen. Jeff Chapman, R-Brunswick, U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Gainesville, former Secretary of State Karen Handel, former state Sen. Eric Johnson, R-Savannah, Cumming businessman Ray McBerry and state Rep. Austin Scott, R-Tifton. Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine says he has a scheduling conflict.

WNEG anchor Ray Metoyer will moderate, and panelists will include WALB anchor Dawn Hobby, WGCL anchor Stephanie Fisher and WGAU 1340 AM news director Tim Bryant.