May 15 (Bloomberg) -- The Republicans are facing an uphill battle against a fresh-faced Democrat for a third term in the White House, and they are reaching for a familiar playbook: crime.

It worked in 1988; it will be tried again in 2008.

With Illinois Senator Barack Obama almost certain to be the Democratic nominee, Republican groups are focusing on his vulnerabilities. They are highlighting some of his votes during his eight years in the Illinois state legislature, from opposing extending the death penalty for gang members to refusing to back restrictions on porn shops and saying he supports the ``decriminalization'' of marijuana.

``I would be amazed if crime was not used extensively to show how out of step this guy is with the mainstream of America,'' said Tony Fabrizio, a Republican strategist unaffiliated with the campaign of the party's presumptive nominee, Arizona Senator John McCain. Fabrizio said Obama's crime votes, in particular, were ``something visceral.''

``If McCain's people and Republicans run the right campaign against Barack Obama, John McCain can win in a landslide,'' Fabrizio said.

The Obama campaign said the charges are unfounded and the candidate has been consistently tough on crime.

Illinois Record

As a state senator, Obama's campaign said, the candidate sponsored laws to remove the statute of limitations for first- degree murder and to extend it for sexual assault; to protect victims of domestic violence; to increase penalties on drunk drivers and white-collar crime, and to protect victims' rights.

Obama, 46, also worked on legislation to crack down on sex offenders and drug dealers and repeatedly voted to lengthen sentences for criminals, the campaign said. He also supported measures to address gang violence.

Republicans are trying to ``distract, deflect and distort the record,'' said David Axelrod, Obama's chief strategist, and the effort is ``destined to fail.''

``It's not going to deflect attention from the fact that Senator McCain is carrying the tattered banner of the Bush administration on economic matters and foreign policy,'' Axelrod said.

`Stark Contrast'

McCain, 71, has yet to raise the crime issue, though Tucker Bounds, a campaign spokesman, said his ``record will stand in stark contrast to either of the potential Democratic nominees for president.''

Meanwhile, Republican surrogates, mainly independent groups, are resurrecting the strategy that sunk former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis's 1988 presidential bid. Floyd Brown, creator of ads that played to racial fears and portrayed Dukakis as soft on crime, recently produced an ad that attacks Obama's 2001 vote against a bill that would have made gang members eligible for the death penalty.

Brown's 1988 ad against Dukakis, who lost to Republican George H.W. Bush after failing to quell concerns that he was weak on crime, focused on a Massachusetts parolee, Willie Horton, who committed armed robbery and rape. The current spot recounts the stories of three Chicago residents murdered by gangs.

`Republican Trick'

``They're trying to use the old Republican trick of law and order and crime as code words for race,'' said Leonard Steinhorn, a political communications expert at American University in Washington who was a volunteer speechwriter for Dukakis. ``If it's going to succeed with any cohort, it's the cohort of older Americans because they're the ones who have the most outdated racial attitudes.''

Depending on how far the activists take the issue, McCain may have to distance himself, Steinhorn said.

Even some Republicans said the strategy has its limits.

``Those issues won't work in this election,'' said John Weaver, a former senior adviser to McCain. ``In a change election in a country that's in a recession and in a war, issues like that tend to be not as important.''

Much of the crime material comes from research compiled for former Illinois Republican Senate candidate Jack Ryan, whose 2004 campaign against Obama collapsed after lurid details about his marriage were unsealed in divorce court.

State Senate Votes

The research cites Obama's 2001 vote against a bill restricting ``adult-use'' establishments near schools, churches and homes; and his failure to support tougher laws against sex offenders. Obama said at the time the adult-use issue was a local zoning matter and that the Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act would deny due process.

In 2004, Obama said the U.S. should ``re-think and decriminalize our marijuana laws'' though he didn't support legalization. Obama has also said he believes too many first- time, non-violent drug offenders are being sent to prison.

Other items include Obama's 2001 vote against extending the death penalty to murders committed by gang members. The state's Republican governor vetoed the bill, calling it ``misdirected,'' and Obama said Illinois already had ``sufficient laws on the books'' that made gang members subject to the death penalty.

Limey Nargelenas, deputy director of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, said Obama isn't weak on crime. The candidate, he said, broke with the majority of Democrats in the state Senate by supporting legislation allowing retired police officers to carry firearms.

``Democrats tend to be more liberal,'' said Nargelenas, a Republican. ``But with Senator Obama, we found he takes a look at the issue and looks at both sides.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Heidi Przybyla in Washington at hprzybyla@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 15, 2008 09:31 EDT