The National Organization for Marriage announced on Thursday that GOP presidential candidates Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney have signed the group’s pledge to oppose marriage for same-sex couples at the federal level. The pledge includes support for a federal amendment to the U.S. Constitution defining marriage as between one man and one woman.
For background, read Presidential Candidates: Abortion & Marriage Top Issues and also read Presidential Candidates Address Christian America
UPDATE 10/19/11: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie backs Gay Agenda, saying, “I’m really concerned about those kinds of [Biblical] statements being made.”
UPDATE 8/26/11: Gov. Rick Perry becomes fourth Republican presidential candidate to sign the National Organization for Marriage pledge
-- From "Romney signs marriage pledge" by Ben Smith, Politico 8/4/11
The three candidates signed the pledge advanced by the National Organization for Marriage, which has led national and state campaigns to limit marriage to a man and a woman. The signature of the frontrunner, Romney, is a bit of a coup for the group, as he's been careful about committing to other pledges, including a broad promise to a socially conservative Iowa group that caused trouble for other candidates.
The pledge is less meaningful for its direct consequences than for the fact that it commits the three candidates fully to the hottest front in the culture wars.
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From "Romney, Bachmann, Santorum sign NOM’s marriage pledge" by Andy Birkey, American Independent 8/4/11
The pledge asked candidates to support five of the group’s goals:
Support and send to the states a federal marriage amendment defining marriage as one man and one woman, defend DOMA in court, appoint judges and an attorney general who will respect the original meaning of the Constitution, appoint a presidential commission to investigate harassment of traditional marriage supporters, and support legislation that would return to the people of D.C. their right to vote for marriage.
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From "Romney, Bachmann, Santorum sign marriage pledge" by Catalina Camia, USA TODAY 8/4/11
These presidential candidates "stand head and shoulders above the crowd as marriage champions, for their willingness to go beyond words to commit to concrete actions," Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), said in a statement.
The NOM pledge is more straightforward than a broadly written, controversial pledge by the conservative Family Leader group in Iowa.
NOM is co-sponsoring a values voters bus tour that launches in Iowa on Monday, ending in Ames at a presidential straw poll on Aug. 13. Voters who believe strongly in social issues such as abortion and marriage traditionally play a key role in the Iowa presidential caucuses.
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From "Romney Signs Anti-Gay Marriage Pledge, Pawlenty Doesn’t" by Danny Yadron, Wall Street Journal 8/4/11
But former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who has sought to burnish his credentials as an evangelical Christian, declined to sign it, possibly putting him at odds with the social conservatives he is trying to court in Iowa. The National Organization for Marriage is running a four-day Iowa bus tour leading up to the Aug. 13 straw poll in Ames.
“Pawlenty’s communications director Ann Marie Hauser, personally informed me on Tuesday that Tim Pawlenty would not sign NOM’s marriage pledge,” said Maggie Gallagher, chairman of the board of NOM. “Like many people, we are scratching our heads wondering why Gov. Pawlenty, who has been a champion for marriage in Minnesota, would not commit to doing so for America.”
Mr. Pawlenty’s spokesman said the former governor and his wife “chose to express their commitment to the institution of marriage using their own words in a video about their values and faith. We appreciate the opportunity but respectfully decline to sign the pledge.”
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Also read Can an Evangelical Woman be President? (Bachmann)
