WINSTON-SALEM - The rowdy 13th Congressional District race entered a more intense phase Tuesday, with a debate that had the flavor of a supermarket tabloid.

Acting as a cultural warrior, Republican challenger Vernon Robinson tried to tie Democratic U.S. Rep. Brad Miller to French homosexuals, a study of how college women respond physically to pornography and bilingual ballots for Hispanics, among other things.

"My opponent has San Francisco values and repeatedly votes against the institutions of this great nation," Robinson said.

Miller alternately laughed or shrugged at the gibes and said voters had grown tired of Robinson's attacks in mailings, automatic telephone calls and television commercials.

"I think we are back from that quick trip to Planet Robinson and back here on Planet Earth," Miller said -- a line he used several times during the debate.

The debate at WXII-TV in Winston-Salem was the first of three this week between the candidates. With the election three weeks away, voters can expect to see plenty of these charges.

The 30-minute debate was not televised but can be seen at WXII's Web site, www.WXII12.com.

Despite the exchanges, both candidates kept their composure and shook hands before and after the debate, which featured enough attacks for a dozen debates. Robinson sought to link Miller with flag-burning, illegal immigrants and "a junket" to Iraq as a congressman while not serving in the military himself.

Then the debate got personal.

"Mr. Robinson," Miller said, "most people think I'm most offended by your insinuations about my sexual orientation or your saying that my wife and I can't have children shows we are out of the mainstream, but what offends me the most is the contempt you have shown for my religious faith."

"I reject out of hand the insinuation that I ever mentioned your wife," Robinson said. "I know nothing about your sexual orientation."

But he said he was concerned that Miller's church, the Church of the Good Shepherd, an old Episcopal church in downtown Raleigh, "has led the state in the promotion of the ordination of homosexual clergy, and I don't agree with that. I don't think voters of the 13th District agree with that."

Replied Miller, "Mr. Robinson just said he never showed contempt for my faith and then proceeded to say it."

In his campaign literature, Robinson does not mention Miller's wife but does note that the couple is childless. He also ties Miller to a married man who operates a well-known Internet site, calling him "Brad Miller's San Francisco soul Mate" and describing the man as "a militant homosexual rights advocate."

Robinson repeatedly tried to tie Miller to controversial votes. At least four times during the debate, he mentioned Miller's vote to fund a grant to test the sexual arousal of college women.

"My opponent is clearly out of touch with the values of the voters," Robinson said. "A great example of that is when he voted for sex studies to pay college girls to watch porn movies and be measured for their arousal."

The study was one of thousands that were part of a National Institutes of Health budget. In 2003, a Republican congressman proposed an amendment to delete funding of five grants dealing with sexuality, saying they were inappropriate uses of federal funds. The amendment was defeated, 212-210, with Miller voting in the majority. Miller said researchers, rather than politicians, should decide what grants should be funded.

Robinson said he was not invited to join President Bush during his stop in Greensboro today at a school in the 13th District. Robinson said he preferred to campaign among voters anyway.

Miller and Robinson are scheduled to debate Friday on WRAL-TV and on WTVD-TV.