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发帖数: 4174 | 1 Posted on Advocate.com July 13, 2011 08:30:00 AM ET
Romney Calls Antigay Pledge "Inappropriate"
By Lucas Grindley
Mitt Romney won't sign an antigay pledge proposed by an Iowa religious
right group because it's "undignified and inappropriate," according to the
Associated Press.
Of course, that hasn't stopped Rep. Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum, who
both agreed to The Family Leader's pledge almost immediately. By signing,
they've promised to back a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and
have affirmed their belief that gay men are a public health risk, that gay
parents are inferior to straight parents, and that homosexuality is a choice.
Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for Romney, told the Associated Press that the
former Massachusetts governor would not sign "The Marriage Vow" even though
he "strongly supports traditional marriage." The language "contained
references and provisions that were undignified and inappropriate for a
presidential campaign," said Saul.
Romney joins former Utah governor Jon Huntsman who also won't sign, claiming
to have a blanket policy against joining pledges.
The rest of the GOP presidential field has until Aug. 1 to make a decision.
Newt Gingrich has said, for example, that his campaign is still examining
the document. Gingrich's next move is being closely scrutinized because the
pledge requires candidates to promise faithfulness to their spouses, and he'
s on his third marriage -- to a woman he once had an affair with.
Even Santorum was leery about whether that part of the pledge was
appropriate.
"When I first read it, I was taken aback," Santorum told CNN this weekend.
But he signed anyway. "If you can't be faithful to the people you are
closest to then how can we count on you to be faithful to those of us you
represent?"
The Family Leader is led by Bob Vander Plaats, who successfully campaigned
for the ouster of three Supreme Court justices that legalized gay marriage
in Iowa. His group's endorsement is contingent on whether candidates sign
the pledge.
"We're not trying to beat up anybody for past mistakes because we're a
Christian organization -- we fully understand the need for forgiveness and
redemption," said Vander Plaats in an interview with Salon where he defended
the pledge's intrusion on candidates' personal lives. "We've all made
mistakes in the past. This is about moving forward."
Regardless of their choices on signing the pledge, Romney and Gingrich
support a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage while Huntsman does
not. One candidate has taken up loud opposition to the pledge -- former New
Mexico governor Gary Johnson. Although he barely shows up in polls, Johnson
has a warning for his party on what it takes to get elected.
"If candidates who sign this pledge somehow think they are scoring some
points with some core constituency of the Republican Party, they are doing
so at the peril of writing off the vast majority of Americans who want no
part of this ‘pledge’ and its offensive language," said Johnson. "The
Republican Party cannot afford to have a presidential candidate who condones
intolerance, bigotry and the denial of liberty to the citizens of this
country. If we nominate such a candidate, we will never capture the White
House in 2012." | m******1
发帖数: 19713 | 2 Romney and Gingrich support a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage
while Huntsman does not. |
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