In a move that instantly outclasses GOP competitors Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum, presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has announced he will not sign the conservative Iowa Christian group’s pledge opposing, among other things, marriage equality.
Mitt Romney
The Family Leader’s “pledge” calls on conservative candidates to oppose marriage equality, pornography, open service in the military and forms of Islamic law.
While Bachmann and Santorum raced each other to be early signers, 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.”
Romney, however, supported marriage equality in Massachusetts.
While I’m certainly no Republican, I can honestly applaud Romney for taking the high road on this issue.
The Family Leader, formed last year by Iowa conservative Bob Vander Plaat,s to position itself to be influential in the 2012 Iowa caucuses, said they stand by their anti-gay positions.
In addition to Romney, GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman is not campaigning in Iowa, citing his past opposition to farm subsidies, although he also supported rights for same-sex couples as governor of Utah. According to campaign aides, Huntsman has said he will not sign any pledges as part of his campaign.
And former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson blasted the pledge over the weekend, calling it “offensive to the principles of liberty and freedom on which this country was founded.”
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Way to go, oven-mitt.
he forgot to mention anti-mormon, anti EVERYTHING pledge! lol
wat an ass
Good for Mitt!
still not voting for him
Would never vote Republican, but I have a bit more respect for him now.
Seth, did you even read any of that or was that just a reaction to hearing his name?
Good job, Mitt. Respect.
It’s nice when a politician can actually surprise me!
Still would never vote for a Mormon, hell No!!! I live in California and I remember prop 8, screw all mormons
Good boy, Mitty! You may have a shot now. Keep it up. DO SOME GAY STUFF for God’s sake.
Even though I’d probably next vote for the guy, I give Mitt credit for not signing it
Yeah…the Mormon stuff kinda has me turned off. I’m glad he decided not to sign it. But, Fred Karger still has my vote.
I’m glad he didn’t sign it, though I think I would still rather chew my own arm off than vote Republican.
And, um, guys (/girls/both/non-binaries/others), you do know that not ALL Mormons are anti-gay, right? Just like not all Christians are anti-gay. Can we chill on that front, please? I’m usually not one for defending anything to do with religion, but I do know some pretty awesome pro-LGBT liberal Mormons. “Screw all Mormons” is not cool.
Im glad to see he is smarter than Bachmann but I still wouldnt vote for him..
He has my vote, and has yet to let me down. I don’t agree with all his policies, but when I break down everything I believe in and what he believes in, out of every candidate he is my closest match. Sorry that I don’t drink the lgbt liberal cool-aid.
In the same vein of “not all religious folks are bigots”, you people do realize that not all republicans are bigots, right? I think it’s kind of messed up when anyone states that they would never vote Reublican?Democrat. It shows that people on both sides of the platform vote along party lines, not the issues. I’d vote for a pro marriage equality republican (they do exist. Fred Karger, anyone?) rather than an anti marriage equality democrat.
The point being, one should never make generalized assumptions about groups of people.
Agreed with Jeanie, we must lead by example and not respond to hate with hate. Generalizations and stereotypes dont get anyone anywhere.
Fucking asshole. Hope he doesn’t get elected. He’ll make my life fuckin’ hell.
I doubt that I would vote for him because of other issues, but you have to give the guy some credit for not being a lemming.
Until he changes his mind.. Will see.
oh, Mitt, you’re gonna lose your magic decoder ring now
While I am not a supporter of Romney I think he has at least shown he is better than all the hateful who created this pledge.
A smart move by Mitt because he knows that same crowd will get around to his people soon enough because of his religious beliefs which according to the self appointed chosen ones are also deemed not worthy. Good for you Mitt. ho would have thunk a Republian canidate with some smarts and class.
hey sailor
Bachmann and Santorum: Is that a hue of shame covering your faces?
Way to show the Corn Cob state that there is at least one Republican not afraid of the religious right!
Does not signing this abomination make Romney an equal rights supporter? Oh, puh-LEEZ.
nice headline
Well Mitt, a closed mind is a sad thing. You should know the marvelous people that I know…maybe you would see that it is your attitude that is undignified.
Giving people credit for what they deserve ≠ thinking he’s a LGBTQ supporter. Really? We’re allowed to like that someone refuses to sign that horrible pledge, regardless if they don’t support a cause we do or not.
I really want to believe that not EVERY Repugnant on Capital Hill is a hater of my people! If so they will NEVER get my vote. On the other hand I’m tired of Obama and all his broken promises…. which is worse, a balless wonder that keeps taking bribes from the lobbyists and changing his position on issues every other day (support gays, end the drug war, bring the troops home and I mean REALLY bring them home not 20 thousand over the next year.. I mean REALLY? WTF!) or a hateful Repugnant in the White House??
@Gary, not, it does not, however, that makes him less of a douchebag than anybody who has and will sign that pledge.
So far, he seems like he’s the GOP’s only chance in this election. If they put anyone else up, Obama will win so easily.
Santorum xD
Mit romney for president! Sorry guys, im a republican! However, he doesn’t have tea party support so he most likely won’t be GOP candidate.
Where do these people come from??? I thought this was a joke when I first heard of this pledge. Are they that ridiculous ?
@ Jeannie: : While I agree with your sentiment here completely not to pigeon-hole people, there is one thing that makes me group all members of the Republican party: it is in their party platform to resist marriage equality. If you look at their platform (link at the end of this post), it is right there in black and white what the party’s position is. If you vote for a Republican, you are voting for a candidate who has joined a party with discrimination built into their platform. Thus, I don’t think it is an unfair position for people to say that they will never vote for a Republican. Personally, I take a more nuanced position: I won’t ever vote for a Republican at the Federal level until this is removed from their party platform because even if the individual candidate may be pro-LGBT rights, unless they alway vote against their own party caucus, we’ll have no chance at equality whatsoever. I have voted for GOP candidates in RI state and local elections, based on their LGBT position.
If the GOP wants LGBT votes, they’ll remove that position from their platform and start treating everyone equally and not pander to the Religious Right.
http://www.gop.com/2008Platform/Values.htm#6 (This is the 2008 platform which is the latest published one)