Iowa caucus

Herman Cain Not Signing 'Marriage Vow' Either

Eric Kleefeld | July 13, 2011, 6:39PM

Herman Cain

Yet another Republican presidential candidate is declining to sign the controversial "Marriage Vow" pledge put forward by the Iowa conservative group Family Leader: Herman Cain.

"While I commend their intent regarding the pledge, I believe my stated position encompasses their values without the need to sign the pledge," Cain said, the Des Moines Register reports. He also added: "I am, and will continue to be, an ardent defender of traditional marriage and will work to preserve and protect the sanctity of human life, which I believe begins at conception."

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2012 elections

Vander Plaats: Romney 'Has Been All Over The Board'

Eric Kleefeld | July 13, 2011, 4:41PM

Bob Vander Plaats

TPM spoke with Bob Vander Plaats, the Iowa conservative activist and former gubernatorial candidate who has pitched the "Marriage Vow" pledge for presidential candidates competing in the state caucuses. And while he's not too perturbed that Newt Gingrich and Tim Pawlenty are not signing it (at least not yet), he's got some pretty strong words for Mitt Romney.

Tuesday night, Romney's campaign slammed the pledge, saying that it "contained references and provisions that were undignified and inappropriate for a presidential campaign.

"One of the reasons we put the pledge together was for a person or candidate like Gov. Romney," Vander Plaats told TPM, "because it's been well documented that Gov. Romney has been all over the board when it comes to marriage, or abortion, or universal health care."

Vander Plaats also added: "These types of no-commitments on my part to marriage and family, I don't think that's going to do his campaign any favors in the state of Iowa.

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Iowa caucus

Pawlenty: 'I Respectfully Decline' To Sign 'Marriage Vow'

Eric Kleefeld | July 13, 2011, 3:17PM

Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN)

Tim Pawlenty is the newest Republican presidential candidate to refuse to sign an Iowa religious right group's "Marriage Vow" pledge -- but he's being really nice about it.

"I deeply respect, and share, Bob Vander Platts' commitment to promoting the sanctity of marriage, a culture of life, and the core principles of the Family Leader's Marriage Vow Pledge," Pawlenty said in a statement. "However, rather than sign onto the words chosen by others, I prefer to choose my own words, especially seeking to show compassion to those who are in broken families through no fault of their own."

The "Marriage Vow" involved a candidate pledging personal fidelity to his or her spouse, that he or she would change divorce laws to make "quickie divorces" more difficult, and would oppose gay marriage, pornography, and "Sharia Islam," among other things. Two Republican candidates, Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum, signed the pledge, and then immediately encountered controversy due to the resolution's original preamble language on slavery -- which has since been edited out -- stating, quite contrary to the facts, that African-American families were more secure under slavery than they are today, under an African-American president.

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Iowa caucus

Romney Campaign Slams 'Undignified And Inappropriate' Marriage Pledge From Iowa Group

Eric Kleefeld | July 13, 2011, 10:12AM

GOP Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney is further distancing himself from the GOP's religious right base in Iowa, by refusing to sign a social conservative group's controversial "Marriage Vow" pledge -- with his campaign going the extra mile by excoriating the pledge itself.

[TPM SLIDESHOW: Meet The 2012 GOPers: Mitt Romney]

The "Marriage Vow" involved a candidate pledging personal fidelity to his or her spouse, that he or she would change divorce laws to make "quickie divorces" more difficult, and would oppose gay marriage, pornography, and "Sharia Islam," among other things. Two Republican candidates, Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum, signed the pledge, and then immediately encountered controversy due to the resolution's original preamble language on slavery -- which has since been edited out -- stating, quite contrary to the facts, that African-American families were more secure under slavery than they are today, under an African-American president.

As the Associated Press reports, Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul bluntly declared that the pledge "contained references and provisions that were undignified and inappropriate for a presidential campaign."

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2012 elections

Gingrich Seeking To Tweak 'Marriage Vow' -- From Iowa Conservative Group

Eric Kleefeld | July 11, 2011, 6:31PM

Newt Gingrich

Newt Gingrich has decided not to sign -- at least, not sign as of yet -- an Iowa conservative group's controversial 'Marriage Vow' pledge for Republican presidential candidates to personally and publicly uphold heterosexual monogamy and sexual morality.

"We're happy to work with you to sharpen it so people understand where we're going with it," Gingrich told Family Leader head Bob Vander Plaats, according to Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond, in a National Journal report. "It's not there yet."

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2012

Inflammatory Social Conservative Pledge Trips Up GOP Contenders

Benjy Sarlin | July 11, 2011, 3:30PM

Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum are taking heat for signing onto a group's pledge suggesting African-American families were better off in some ways under slavery.

The two most prominent social conservatives in the 2012 field signed onto "The Marriage Vow - A Declaration of Dependence upon Marriage and Family," by The Family Leader, a Christian group. According to the pledge, "Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA's first African-American President."

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2012 elections

GOP Candidates To Be Served With 'Marriage Vow' Pledge In Iowa

Eric Kleefeld | July 7, 2011, 10:16AM

Republican presidential candidates going through Iowa will now be asked to take new marriage vows -- that is, a pledge to uphold traditional marriage.

David Brody at the Christian Broadcasting Network reports, the actual title of the document is "The Marriage Vow -- A Declaration of Dependence Upon Marriage and Family." It is being put forward by the social conservative group the Family Leader, headed up by 2010 gubernatorial candidate and 2008 Huckabee state campaign chair Bob Vander Plaats.

Among the points for candidates to pledge are personal fidelity to his or her spouse, opposition to gay marriage and support in legal fights for the Defense of Marriage Act, opposition to sex trafficking and pornography, and opposition to "anti-women" Sharia Islamic law.

Hmm...a strict Sharia adherent would also oppose gay marriage and pornography, and likely demand the legal defense of DOMA. Oh well.