Brian S. Brown of The National Organization for Marriage repored to its members:
Three marriage champions have emerged in the race for the presidency!
Two weeks ago, we got a Marriage Pledge to ten of the major announced candidates for the GOP nomination.
NOM’s marriage pledge asks candidates to commit to five simple, straightforward, concrete steps to protect marriage nationally:
- To support and send to the states for ratification a federal marriage amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
- To do vigorously what President Obama has refused to do: defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court.
- To appoint to the Supreme Court, and as his or her Attorney General, only those who support the original meaning of the Constitution and who will, therefore, not invent a right to gay marriage.
- To establish a presidential commission to investigate the increasing reports of harassment and threats to supporters of traditional marriage.
- And to give back to the people of D.C. the right already guaranteed in the Charter which Congress gave them: the right to vote on marriage via the referendum process.
Today we announced the three candidates who have signed onto NOM’s Marriage Pledge: Michelle Bachmann, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum.
For these three candidates, support for marriage is not just a matter of words. (Even Pres. Obama does that!) These candidates emerge as leaders because they are willing to walk the walk, to commit to concrete actions to support marriage.
(The offer to sign NOM’s marriage pledge will be extended to Gov. Rick Perry and other major candidates not currently in the race, as and when they enter the race).
USA Today, the Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal, and many others are covering NOM’s pledge, and one question they are asking us is: What happened with Governor Pawlenty?
I have to be honest with you: I do not know. Here’s what Maggie told the WSJ when a reporter asked whether Gov. Pawlenty actually refused to sign the pledge, or just failed to respond.
“Pawlenty’s communications director, Ann Marie Hauser, personally informed me on Tuesday that Tim Pawlenty would not sign NOM’s marriage pledge.” She added, “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.”
“At this point, the people of Iowa need to know that Michelle Bachmann and Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum are the only candidates willing to step forward and pledge to protect marriage in this campaign,” Maggie said. “We hope Gov. Pawlenty will reconsider.”