Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann, Former Gov. of Massachsetts Mitt Romney, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum signed a pledge that lays out specific steps to defend traditional marriage in America.
The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) authored the pledge, and the pledge has committed the candidates to a set of five specific stances.
1.) A constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman
2.) Appoint federal judges who are committed to the judicial philosophy of Originalism
3.) Defend the Defense of Marriage Act
4.) Establish a presidential commission on religious liberty
5.) Push legislation that gives the people in Washington D.C. the right to vote on marriage.
“We are grateful to Michelle Bachmann, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum for their courage and their leadership in standing up for marriage, and so are millions of Americans who care about protecting marriage,” said NOM president Brian Brown.
NOM will continue to push other candidates to sign the pledge, and will use the Value Voters Bus Tour to do so.
Brown said that voters “will continue to reward candidates who champion marriage.” He targeted early and critical Republican primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina as places where the pledge could gather support for Republican candidates.
The language in this pledge was less controversial than the one in a pledge authored months ago by the conservative Iowa family values group, The Family Leader, that stirred controversy. Many top-tier candidates such as Romney avoided signing that pledge.
