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Steve Deace > News > 2012 Iowa Caucuses > The Pledge: More Than Words?

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The Pledge: More Than Words?

by Jen Green

Iowa’s conservative pro-family group The Family Leader, lead by former gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats, unveiled a new candidate pledge Thursday at a press conference. That in and of itself is not surprising—one would expect a group of that standing in a state like Iowa to expect more than just lip service from GOP candidates looking for the nod from Iowans.

That the pledge asks the candidates to stand firm on traditional marriage is also not a surprise. Vander Plaats is known for leading a successful campaign to ouster three Supreme Court judges in Iowa who ruled for “same-sex” marriage. Because support for traditional marriage is a mainstay in the Republican party platform, one would assume most of the GOP candidates campaigning in this state would have no problem with a pledge like this.

Except, it’s not a pledge like that. In fact, it’s a very ambitious pledge that is sure to cause some of the GOP candidates in Iowa some serious heartburn. This pledge says the “signer” will work to remove elements that are “unfriendly” to traditional marriage from our welfare system and seek to make “quickie” divorces less quickie and more difficult. The pledge suggests a “cooling off” period before divorces are granted.

The pledge goes further and demands the signer agree to protect the next generation from “human trafficking, sexual slavery, all forms of pornography, prostitution, infanticide and abortion” among others. Considering child pornography is one of the biggest industries in our world, this is a big and difficult request, but is very much in line with the stated mission of both the Family Leader and the Republican party.

The signers will also “pledge marital fidelity to my spouse” (interesting considering Newt Gingrich is the Family Leader’s guest tomorrow and he has had some very public issues with this in the past), legal advocacy for DOMA, and a complete rejection of Sharia Law.

There’s much more. The full text of the pledge is here. The Family Leader states it will not endorse a candidate unless they sign the pledge. If no one signs the pledge, they will not endorse.

How do you think the candidates are going to respond? Will it matter to you?

On a personal note, I had the opportunity to help moderate a focus group of undecided voters for stevedeace.com not long ago. These ten people, all socially and fiscally conservative and politically active, said that endorsements were not “very” important to them. However, they all said if there was anyone in Iowa whose endorsement would factor into their decision, it would be Bob Vander Plaats and the Family Leader. If those folks are indicative of a segment of Iowa voters—say the ones who will be at the Ames Straw Poll and/or the Iowa caucuses– this pledge could be quite significant.

 

  • TEApublican

    Good summary Jen.

  • Matt

    The candidates need to take a pledge that they will not have foreign citizens working on their campaigns, nor will they go to foreign countries to solicit money.
    We saw this last time mostly with Obama’s campaign with foreign students spending a summer or so working on his campaign.
    BUT…
    We also saw this somewhat with McCain.  He had a fundraiser in London (yes England) hosted by Lord Rothchild.

    I also remember McCain being in Mexico on July 3rd 2008. 

    And then of course we had the Obama European tour right after receiving the nomination.

    Never had I ever seen Presidential Candidates spend so much time outside this country during an election year.  If that is how things have been in the past it really needs to stop.

    So the Pledge should say I promise that I will have no one who is a citizen of another country participlate in my campaign nor will I go and raise money on foreign lands.

  • Matt

    Forget whether it is legal or not. Is it right?

    I say no! And that is what we need to make our candidates pledge!

    http://www.amazon.com/Foreigners-working-U-S-campaigns-Politics/dp/B001QAOXHO

    http://jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2008-04-15/sundby-foreigncampaignworkers.html

    As you see, it happens in BOTH PARTIES!

  • Matt

    Let us not forget this….

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/oct/13/uselections2004.usa11

    Like I said most of the time indeed it’s the Democrats who do this but there has been a fair number of Republicans in the past who engaged in such stuff.

  • Matt

    Do you know that the Nephew of the  deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India works for Obama!

    If that is not foreign interests getting involved in US politicians I don’t know what is!

    TOTAL CONFLICT OF INTESTEST!

    http://www.timescrest.com/society/why-obama-hugged-his-aunt-4039

  • Anonymous

    Wow – how is that pledge working now?  Looks like candidates are running away from it like the plague.

  • Anonymous

    If the ten people in the Focus group who are so enamored by Bob Vander Plaats were not able to rally together with their ilk to influence the Iowa Gubernatorial primary, what voice do you suppose they will have in the general election?

    Indeed, the pledge is quite significant given that nearly every candidate is running as far away from it as possible. 

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1382558081 Steven Deace

    Just to clarify, the only two candidates who have said they won’t sign it are Romney and Pawlenty. Romney is the most pro-homosexual governor in American history. Pawlenty is at 2-6% in the polls. The defense of marriage has also won all 31 elections it’s been popularly contested, which tells me it’s a winning issue in general elections. 

  • Anonymous

    One more clarification - Cain just said he won’t sign it as well.  So did the former New Mexico Governor, whats-his-name.  Ron Paul said he will “look at it” – - I’ll bet he doesn’t sign it either.  Paul is a libertarian, so I would be surprised if he supports any pledge that inserts the government into the private homes of individuals and takes choice away from people and places it with the government.  As most libertarians would say: “it’s none of your #@*& business what I do in the privacy of my home!”  Only the RINOs (Santorum, Bachmann) who support more government, less liberty, and more government intrusion into personal lives have signed on.  The issue has become toxic within the span of 48 hours. 

  • Erikcharter

    I haven’t listened to Simon Conway on WHO much, but he is tearing this pledge apart on his show today. Where does he come from ideologically? I do agree it was a terrible idea to refer to slavery in the pledge. Who wrote that part?

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