"I am a conservative Republican and I believe in God first," Atanus said. She said she believes God controls the weather and has put tornadoes and diseases such as autism and dementia on earth as punishment for gay rights and legalized abortions. "God is angry. We are provoking him with abortions and same-sex marriage and civil unions," she said. "Same-sex activity is going to increase AIDS. If it's in our military it will weaken our military. We need to respect God."

Susanne Atanus is one of the Illinois Republicans attempting to unseat Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky this year. She is not going to be of any particular help to the ol' rebranding effort Atanus is facing a Republican who believes government should "stay out" of marriage and abortion decisions and who voted for Barack Obama in 2008, so Republicans in the 9th district will have, as the kids say today, an interesting choice. But you probably have to bet on the person who thinks God makes people autistic because he's mad about gay people, since I assume even among Illinois Republicans "I voted for Barack Obama" is considered devil-talk.