The much discussed Iowa Marriage Vow Pledge also known as the “Family Leader Pledge” has the signatures of two presidential hopefuls– Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum. Both candidates are now back-pedaling like crazy because of some controversial language contained in the pledge that appears to sanction slavery.
According to the Des Moines Register:
The leader of an Iowa conservative organization Monday defended a statement about black children and slavery that it distributed in asking presidential candidates to vow their allegiance to one man/one woman marriage.
At least one presidential candidate, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, condemned the suggestion in the vow’s preamble that black children were better off during slave times. Also Monday, the think tank cited as the basis for the slavery statement denied saying anything like that.
The fact that two candidates, Bachmann and Rick Santorum, quickly signed the 14-point “candidate vow,” then later said they hadn’t read the entire four-page pledge document, highlights the pressure on candidates to prove their social conservative credentials to Iowa voters, politics watchers said.
The Iowa Marriage Vow Pledge can be downloaded here.
Both candidates claim to have not read the verbiage. Bachmann further denounced slavery and argued that the statement was not part of the pledge, only background material.
“I did not see that language. That was not a part of the vow,” Bachmann told reporters during a campaign stop Monday in Indianola.
Traditional marriage is the bedrock of society, Bachmann said. “Children need a mom and a dad in their life, and that’s why I signed it,” she said.
Slavery was a dark time in American history, and “certainly it would be absurd for anyone to think that a child would be better off raised in slavery than not,” Bachmann said. “That’s a terrible thing to say. I’m pleased that this has been taken care of.”
