Sadly, I think most voters are cynical enough to realize that it's common practice for politicians to throw dirt at opponents for the same sins they've been guilty of in the past. "It's nothing personal, just business."
The problem is, cynical voters don't vote. People are getting turned off by all the personal attacks and the drama surrounding them. Usually, both sides have this problem going into the primaries, with people in each party attacking other party members who are also running. That's not happening much with the dems, but with the republicans it's a real mess. If they attack each other they're just giving ammo to the dems, and if they attack the dems they're not giving people a positive reason to vote for a particular repub. candidate
The world has changed since republicans last held office
Public opinion in the United States shows majority support for the legal recognition of same-sex marriage. This support has remained above 50% consistently in opinion polls since 2010, after having increased steadily for more than a decade. An August 2010 CNN poll became the first national poll to show majority support for same-sex marriage, with nearly all subsequent polls showing majority support.
A Washington Post/ABC News poll from February–March 2014 found a record high of 59% of Americans approve of same-sex marriage, with only 34% opposed and 7% with no opinion.
The poll also revealed that 53% of the population in the States that currently do not allow same-sex couples to marry approve of same-sex marriage.
50% of respondents said that the United States Constitution guarantees the freedom to marry the person of one's choice, regardless of that persons's sex or sexual orientation. 41% disagreed, and 9% had no opinion.
The same poll also found that 81% of people found that businesses should not be allowed to refuse to serve gays and lesbians. 16% disagreed, and 3% had no opinion.
78% thought that gay couples can be "just as good parents" as straight couples, while 18% disagreed and 4% had no opinion
So the "christian right traditional family values, marriage is only between a man and a woman" stance is clearly out of step with today's society - but republican candidates can't really endorse these changes, because republicans, with the exception of the 18-33 age group, who are evenly split on the question, would go nuts. So what does that leave to republicans to get support outside the party? Not much, as we saw in Indiana.