Democratic Underground - Romney rejects gay marriage pledge

Source: Deseret News

DES MOINES, Iowa — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's campaign said Tuesday that he will not sign a conservative Iowa Christian group's far-reaching pledge opposing gay marriage, making him the first Republican presidential candidate to reject it.

Two of Romney's rivals for the Republican nomination, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, have signed the The Family Leader's 14-point pledge, which calls on the candidates to denounce same-sex marriage rights, pornography, same-sex military accommodations and forms of Islamic law.

When it was first circulated last week, the introduction to the pledge stated that African American children were more likely to be raised in two-parent households when they were born into slavery than they are today. The group struck that language and apologized after black ministers complained, but it said it stands by the rest of the document.

Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for Romney, told The Associated Press in a written statement Tuesday that Romney "strongly supports traditional marriage," but that the oath "contained references and provisions that were undignified and inappropriate for a presidential campaign."

Tough call for T-Paw: do you run as the "sane" alternative to Mittens by rejecting the pledge, and likely give up Iowa to Bachmann, or keep up the fight with Michelle for the nutcase conservatives by signing the pledge and likely burning your bridges against Romney in New Hampshire?

Romney rejects gay marriage pledge [View All]