Washington (CNN) – Republican presidential candidates Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum sought to clarify their support of a pledge that contained a controversial preamble suggesting black children born into slavery had better family structures than black children now.
The excerpt has been removed from "The Marriage Vow - A Declaration of Dependence upon Marriage and Family," a pledge issued by the conservative Christian organization The Family Leader.
The Family Leader is an important socially conservative group in the first-in-the-nation caucus state of Iowa, holding sway over the state's traditionally more conservative caucus goers who influence the fate of presidential campaigns.
A spokesman for former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania told CNN Monday he was "pleased" to sign the pledge, but agreed with the Leader's decision to remove the language about slavery.
"Senator Santorum was pleased to sign the Iowa Family Leader's pledge because he is committed to standing up for traditional marriage. The bigger question here is why aren't more Republicans having the courage to stand up for the institution of marriage and signing this pledge," Virginia Davis said in an email. "With that said, Senator Santorum believed it was the right thing for the Iowa Family Leader to remove the language from the preamble to the pledge about slavery."
Bachmann spokeswoman Alice Stewart, who confirmed the Minnesota congresswoman signed the pledge, said Sunday "In no uncertain terms, Congresswoman Bachmann believes that slavery was horrible and economic enslavement is also horrible."
The passage causing the stir read, "Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA's first African-American President."
The section's end note cited "The Consequences of Marriage for African Americans: A Comprehensive Literature Review" from 2005 - before Barack Obama was elected president.
The Family Leader said in a statement last week that the purpose of the pledge "is to have on record the personal convictions of each presidential candidate as it relates to the issue of marriage. The signing of the pledge will be a requirement for future endorsement" by the Iowa-based group.
The slavery excerpt was the first bullet point in the original pledge's preamble; "The Candidate Vow" begins the second page of the pledge. It is not clear whether Bachmann or Santorum read the preamble before signing the candidate vow.
The pledge requires signatories "to defend and to uphold" the institution of marriage as between one man and one woman.
Each signing candidate must also promise personal fidelity to his or her spouse and recognize that "robust childbearing and reproduction is beneficial to U.S. demographic, economic, strategic and actuarial health and security."
Other provisions include supporting the enactment of safeguards for married and unmarried military personnel from sexual harassment and the "rejection of Sharia Islam."
Pledges have become an important feature in this election cycle, forcing candidates to take a hard line stance over social and fiscal issues. CNN Senior Political Analyst David Gergen said these agreements are constraining for candidates.
"Pledges are proliferating in political campaigns and people are being asked to sign up to things that, in this case, are way out of bounds," Gergen said on CNN Sunday. "In other cases they lock their hands so they can't act."
He pointed specifically to the no new tax pledge, pushed by conservative crusader Grover Norquist's group, Americans for Tax Reform. Two-hundred and thirty House members and 40 senators, almost all of them Republicans, signed the pledge. Gergen said that agreement is now constrictive in the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations.
"That means they have promised while in Washington they will never raise taxes," Gergen said. "That makes it very, very difficult to try to reach and foster some sort of compromise to get us out of the debt problem."
– CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
From CNN Politics
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I wonder if it is true and how did they reach that conclusion and what does it have to do with opposing gay marriage.
These people cannot be taken seriously if they believe such nonsense. The practice of slavery included ripping children from their mother's arms and father's were routinely sold off. I mean, come on.
Candidates in trouble for signing a stupid pledge? Who would have thunk it?
ENOUGH – Instead of the Scarlet letter A lets apply the new scarlet letter 'S' for STUPIDITY. These people are beyond sensitivity training, this is appalling. And they want us to let them run the country. Whats wrong with the American people.
270 Republican leaders signed this pledge to the great detriment of this country. Their political aspirations come before the welfare of the people they were elected to serve. No surprises there.
Honestly, does any of this surprise you? Republicans, espacially the tea-bagging type, stand for bigotry, sexism and hatred of anyone different than themselves. I think these pledge signers are going to discover that the radical right will only harm their campaigns.
Yeah this group doesn't sound like a bunch of fundamentalist nutters at all. Seriously, what happens to you in life to turn into something like this?
Republicans never cease to amaze me...
What is this? Berlin 1939?
All of these pledges are so stupid!
No its not true. You may not know it, but we should all expect a person who seriously thinks they're qualified to be president to. We should all be embarrassed by these two, independent of party affiliation. I guess they'll sign anything for a vote.
Shame, shame shame. They are so used to throwing red meat at their social conservative wingnut followers that their explanations ring false. Sad to see GOP/Tea Party candidates court social conservative organizations that still pracice hate and intolerance so openly.
Does any one really take these people seriously?
Why is it, that, everytime these two, plus Palin, open their mouths it is all about race, race, race? Is this your way of throwing fear into please of non-color. Please, go and say this to a black man/woman, to their face. I'm talking about those that get up every morning, kids off to school, both parents to work. Slavery brought and sold people of color, whether you had family or no family, and you are saying we were better off, along with no freedom! Also, marriage, leave it alone, mine your own business. Bachmann, how's Minnesota during right now? Go home and see if you can help fix it, than come back and run. Santorum, PA was not happy with you, and I can't find anything to say nice to you, so I will just not say nothing at all.
These two are absolutely nuts. They're so afraid that whites will become the minority that they're signing pledges to encourage people to have more white babies. And to say black slave children were better off than the black children of today is just an abomination (a word they love to use). What the heck is going on in this country? They keep promising jobs and no tax hikes, but then all they really work for are these social issues. Santorum, go away. Bachmann, who has so far done nothing in the House, go to work.
Anyone who signs a pledge, particularly one created by a religious organization, clearly evicences that they are not qualified to hold high office. If you want to pander to a certain group, just tell them that you wiil take care of them, so long as the campaign contributions keep rolling in. That's how you do it with corporations and it should be no different with reactionary religious groups.
The passage in the pledge said: "Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA's first African-American President."
You have to hand it to these Republicans. They know how to offend anyone who is not White Anglo-Saxon Protestant better than everyone else.
Oh yea like you can change some people mentality, it always finds a way to sneak out. I guarantee that if they were backed by the tea baggers these repug candidate would have never change their views. When are these repugs are going to quit backing themselves in a corner, reducing themselves to work for the American people day after day after day, when they finish signing their abilities to help the most extreme fanatic Americans, their will be nothing left to help the masses of americans that are moving on in the world, and have the ability to keep up as the world changes at massive speed. Tell these repugs that we are no longer in the dark ages; we know the world is not flat anymore, we have planes that flies, heck we even to the moon and now looking to go on a planet. You thought there was a great uprising when the repugs started taking folks personal interest when the repugs took over through lies a misinformation what would they do when the repugs takes over all the branches of the federal government and reimpliment the policies that brought our great nation into the worst economic disaster none of us in this country have ever saw.
Really, Bachmann did not take time to read something and understand it correctly?Tthe Bachmann on the Intell Committee? Isn't this always her excuse. I don't think the Bible tells her to create a persecution army and go after US American taxpaying citizens and their beloved children, either.
Darn! I was hoping that Bachman would knock Mitt out of the running. Oh, well, looks like she just killed her campaign with this racist and anti-American pledge.
Evidently the {R} in front of these people's name now stands for "Retard".
You just can't make this stuff, nor these folks up.
Running to run the country 12feet into the ground.
Obama 2012.
So whaddayathink, did CAIN sign pledge # 235675432?
So many pledges, so little time and action.
Republicans and their stupid pledges. How dumb can the Republicans be? Lawdi lawdy!!
Christianity is in trouble if these are its representatives.
Ehmm, "upholding marriage" is the pressing issue of our time? Unemployment, jobs, nat'l deficit, two wars, negative trade balance, leveling taxes fairly, yes, against the rich too, alternative energies and more.
And Bachmann and Santorum can't think of anything else but making stupid pledges about marriage between a man and a woman??? (Have they taken a look at the heterosexual divorce rates lately??)
It shows how lost the GOP candidates are, at least the fundamentalist ones: no ideas about solving our real problems. Instead they sit on a perceived moral high horse of social issues, where they think themselves superior. Well, wrong again. They want 'less government" yet try to tell citizens how to live their private lives. How sorry these candidates are!!
yet BOTH of them signed it while the statement was STILL THERE! Does this mean either they don't read things before they sign them or they really don't care only trying to score politcal points? And if people want either of them to be POTUS I think they seriously need to have their heads examined.
"YOU CAN'T UNRING A BELL".
We know what you signed and we know what you meant. TOO LATE.
So.. seriously... How the crap do you manage to pin children not being born in a two parent household to Obama? By this point, I understand these repubs want him out of office, but come up with legit arguments and stop being stupid please...
, "Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA's first African-American President."
------Since only 40% of African-American families today are headed by a married couple, this is probably a true statement.
The POTUS "signs" ONE pledge that trumps ALL others: the oath of office. End of story. Pledges like this should be considered a threat of divided loyalty, period, and anyone with a brain in their head who wants the POTUS, WHOEVER that may end up being, to make decisions in an informed, educated and objective manner should seriously question the creeping fascism evidenced by GOP/conservative "purity" tests and oaths.
well, they are GOP thugs, and idiots....what do you expect??????????????out of Rich....same way...right?????
Didn't the Republicans pledge to focus on jobs, jobs jobs? Oh, wait, nobody made the SIGN that pledge so they don't have to really follow through.
And how long before one of the signers are caught cheating on a spouse?
The Republican Party (and it's lunatic fringe off-shoot, the Tea Party) have become irrelevant IMHO. Society has evolved to a level of social norms that simply don't 'fit' their way of thinking and it drives them crazy. Why else would what are probably relatively 'normal' people, go to such extremes to draw people to their side. Sadly, they still get elected albeit not by the majorities they once enjoyed. What a shame.
Here we go again. Let's frame two or three words out of a republican's mouth, take it out of context, and burn them at the stake while casting racial stones at them. Do you libs know anything about Bachmann's story and background?
CNN will do anything to keep the Socialists...I mean Democrats in power. Don't they know what's best for everyone?
complete and utter insanity!
I am DUMBFOUNDED with the things these people come up with! I can only hope the American people see this for what it is...NONSENSE!
You would think that, as politicians, they would be sensitive to any language that might be damaging ( and that statement goes beyond damaging). Unfortunately, the GOP has morphed from a party that talked about personal and economic freedom into a group that demands Stalin-esque loyalty pledges, then tries to deflect attention from their mistakes by attacking the POTUS ( as if he forced them to sign). The fact that its Bachmann and Santorum is some cause for relief, since these two are easily the most delusional candidates in recent memory, but the fact this langage was put into this pledge should raise a huge red flag to independents contemplating a vote for the GOP: ask yourself, what other pledges have the GOP candidates made, and what are the real-life consequences for that? We are already seeing how the pledge of loyalty to Grover Norquist has turned the Debt Ceiling debate into political Russian Roullette, with possible catastrophic consequences. The people who say its not big deal are NOT the ones who have been trying to deal with this issue in any responsible way. The idea that Bachmann is now tied or leading in Iowa should give pause to anyone with any real education or life experience that being held hostage by a pledge to people who only care about power is NOT in the national interest. If they needed to sign a pledge, than they were never serious about anything except pandering for primary votes, and that rarely translates into good, workable policy.
The passage causing the stir read, "Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA's first African-American President."
-------------------------------------------------–
Gee, considering that the RIPPING APART of family units was standard practice during slavery times, there is nothing left to say but that the Retards,er, Rethugs are lying....yet again.
It's almost as if they wanted to subtly imply that the first African-American U.S. president was responsible for that as well.
Republicans have become America's out in the open most shameful secret, and the fact that there are still ANY of them around after they continually show "their true colors" is beyond intelligent, human comprhension.
If the GOP candidates sign many more pledges they won't have to think for themselves at all. Somehow I don't think that has ever been a problem for Republican candidates.
It is far easier for a Republican candidate to recite slogans and platitudes than to think. Look how far Palin got doing that.
"SayWhat" was right on the money with the posting "Anyone who signs a pledge, particularly one created by a religious organization, clearly evidences that they are not qualified to hold high office."
So, how about this, you Republican Presidential wanna-be's....."READ MY LIPS....NO NEW PLEDGES!" Hey, it's a start.
It is scary in this day and age that people like this cannot comprehend or recognize a horrible system which treated people as property and completely demolished all of their rights (to include the one that this pledge is supposedly trying to preserve). As conservative "Christians" you would hope that they truly would understand the source of the values they are trying to uphold.
i really want Bachmann to be president. she is so smart and will lead this country back.................NOt. Republicans want nothing for the average american trying to raise a family. Their mentallity of "what american people want" is so far out there. I know what I want and I don't need someone to speak it for me, I can do that.Especially someone like Palin,Bachmann or any Republican that doesn't care about me.
Ah, the stink of right wing filth. 20 years ago these imbeciles would have been laughed off the stage if they ran for dog catcher. Now they are front and center in the GOP race for president. Are we really going to let this trash drag this country into the sewer? Really?
We had better take these people seriously. They have a following that will do anything, say anything, threaten
anybody, and take down America as we know it, to gain power. They are going after anyone who does not
tow the line, sign their pledges, and swear their allegiance to them. The obstructionist Reublicans are so
scared, they are willing to allow the US credit rating to be minimized, allow default on already obligated funds,
and kiss the rings of the Koch brothers. The defenders of these people are all over the map. One day they
love Palin, then Bachmann, then Pawlenty, they can't decide who would be the most disastrous to America.
We had better take them seriously.
These are the people who want to run this country. The slave family structure consisted of a mother or father who could be sold or traded to another slave owner. It was not uncommon for slave owners to rape slave and father children of slave women. Yep. Sounds like a pretty solid family structure to me.
Time has passed by! in the 21st Century there is no willing slave seller and slave buyer! silly me what is HR for? .At the door declare yourself!!
In the 21st Century there is no willing slave seller nor slave buyer but slavery still exists in work places.
There is no "slavery controversy" other than the imagined one conjured up by the media jackals of the MSM.No one outside the Demented Left echo chamber gives a hoot for thei "interpretations" of Bachmann's views.
Juan Williams wrote:
"Whenever the press spotlights one of her stumbles,the Minnesota congresswoman gets a flood of support and money. She becomes ‘Every Woman,’ a misunderstood Tea Party mother of five facing down an elitist, arrogant, Obama-leaning press corps."
"The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on."
7/10/11 Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has surpassed former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in a recent Iowa poll that was conducted by TheIowaRepublican.com
Bachmann received support from 25 percent of likely Iowa caucus goers in the poll, while Romney is backed by 21 percent.
The truth will set you free, but it will pi$$ you off first.
Are you kidding me? And the conservative movement against Obama has nothing to do with race? Keep saying it.........but the less refined part of your party (most of them) will give it away every time.
Any document that contains: "Slavery was bad, but....." is probably coming from a conservative source. Hilarious, and pretty much par for the course for these people.
Including that passage was NO mistake. The candidates are not sorry is was included, they are sorry that they got CAUGHT openly supporting racism. AGAIN.
Slave parents were sold at the drop of a hat, and not to mention the slave master fathering many of the children, how is that better.
Did they spend millions of dollars on historical research during the several hundred year long history of slavery and apply a weighted average by population by year and compare that to some kind of time/population adjusted weighted average of our current society?
Maybe they went back in time using their magical Tea Party powers and took surveys of all geographic regions with slaves across all time periods and compared that to a current census studies?
Perhaps they just made all this up because they knew their paranoid, race-baiting white constituency would eat it up no questions asked.
What do you guys think?
I don't know why all these group have these Republican sign these pledge, have you ever seen a Republican keep there word. All they do Is LIE. They say something one day ,than the next day they say they didn't say that. Republican all they do Is LIE. By the way where are all the JOBS republican promise when they ran on It In 2010.Just another LIE.
This just shows how low the GOP has sunk. As an African American man and single father whose raised 4 boys on my own I'm highly offended. To say my sons were better off being slaves than to be raised by me is an insult not just to every African American, but every AMERICAN. People need to relalize what the GOP has truely become, a group of HATE mongers. I'm afraid this is only the beginning of the hate which will come from the GOP this upcoming election season. They have no new ideas about the economy, so they will go to their tride and true tactic FEAR.
What's the issue here? Santorum and Bachmann admitted to being crazy frothing-at-the-mouth right wingers. And now they are LYING in their attempts to moderate their persona. Good luck with that!!
How can Obama win reelection? By having the Republican party nominate Bachmann, Santorum, or Palin. "Robust childbearing and reproduction" ! Is it their idea to relegate women to breeding machines?
I think we have had about enough of these idiotic "pledges." This is nothing but kowtowing to special interest groups.
Why should they have to sign any "vow?" Shouldn't fidelity be a given?
Guess not with these folks (aka – any politician).
"You would think that, as politicians, they would be sensitive to any language that might be damaging"
That language isn't damaging. Contemporary GOP/conseervatives love "White Man's Burden" type of "reasoning"...and right now, these imbeciles are runnign to win a primary. They'll show they're true colors to the base and pander to them extensively and then try to hide it all, soften it and walk things back during the general election unless they get some poll results here or there that have them so overexcited that they forget themselves and overreach (i.e., what frequently happens of late). They are completely and utterly oblivious to how condescending they sound to towards the minority community and the working poor, but these knids of borderline racist dogwhistles work wonders with their base. Watch...we'll not doubt get an obscenely ignorant post or two from people claiming that it is, in fact, the fault of the Dems and their Medicare, SS and the welfare system socialist policies that minority and inner city youth grow up parentless, undereducated and with an overwhelming sense of helplessness.
Again I will say .......
Fascism will come in the front door wearing a flag and carrying a cross ............................
To paraphrase what the GOP kept saying about healthcare, " Read what's in the pledge". The difference, though is that the healthcare bill was thousands of pages long, and I doubt this was anywhere near that. What will their excuse be now: another "gotcha" moment, or is it Obama/Clinton/ Carter's fault? The lack of personal responsibility by the GOP for their actions is nothing short of breath-taking. Can't wait for the clips to show up on Youtube.
"Sanctimonious" and "Mrs. Flake" are such idiots! And all this wonderful entertainment is free.
Uh, that is, unless you are one of the fools actually contributing to one of these disgusting hypocrites.
Clearly, the passage is insensitive. There was nothing good about slavery in any way. I can't second guess them but I think what they were attempting to point out id that, the family unit is the basis for our society . It is true in some communities there is a higher incidence of family dysfunction and breakdown. When this happens there are serious consequences not only to the family members but society.
Actually, looking at what appears to be the Republican/Tea Party economic plan (i.e. give only to the super-rich), it becomes clear that they in fact not only believe in slavery, but seem to be actively trying to build a permanent poor underclass so they can bring it back!
Yet another example of the tea party not really being what they said they were. If you are for the constitution, then there shouldn't be any pledge that needs to be signed, especially before you get into office and take the only "pledge that matters".
I wonder how they would have felt if Obama signed a pledge for the NAACP for their vote........exactly.
"they are what we thought they were" – Coach Denny Green
Sandy
Darn! I was hoping that Bachman would knock Mitt out of the running. Oh, well, looks like she just killed her campaign with this racist and anti-American pledge
----------------–
100% agreed. She would have been SO done so early and would not even win her own state. These pledges and the groups that extort "compliance" are truly dangerous. I want to hear from the other candidate about their outrage at the wording of this pledge and how it's detrimental to everything American................waiting..............waiting...........Beuller?
"It is not clear whether Bachmann or Santorum read the preamble before signing the candidate vow."
Whether they read it or not is well past irrelevant. They signed it. If they signed it without reading it, what does that say about them professionally.
And now we know what "take the country back" means. They want to restart The Civil War.
I would rather be the child of a single black parent then a slave any day. That should bring the black vote to these stupid candidates....
Good to see that these candidates are securing the absence of any LBGT votes if they become the republican candidate chosen to take on Obama. Pretty funny. Keep up the good work. I swear, they are going to keep themselves out of office. Which is perfect.
this does not surprise me at all....... Bachmann is also the person with the husband stating gays are barbarians that need to be punished....
Yet another counter-productive pledge for spineless Republicans to take. It's sad how these morally weak individuals literally sell off their authority and responsibility in order to gain and hold onto public office.
Absolutely Shameful
I want them to sign a pledge that says they'll focus on "jobs, jobs, jobs" instead of utterly insane right-wing nonsense.
@Dean, how can you possibly say that that statement is true when it was standard practice during slavery to sell off the family unit. Mothers were sold fathers and children. The family was not kept together at all. Yes, the percentage of black marriage is low, bit it did not began when Obama got into office. This has been and issue for a very long time. The whole blame Obama game is old and tired.
@skinman, please explain how electing a Republican candidate is what's best for America when it wad 3 sets of Republicans who got our national debt up so high in the first place. (Regan, Bush Sr. And Bush Jr.) Between those 3, $12 trillion was added to our national debt. The economy took a turn for the worse when George W. was in office. He is the one that got our nation into these wars in the first place. Also, if the Republicans had the American people's best interest at heart then they would be willing to compromise to get unemployment dropped, get the debt dropped, let the Bush tax cuts go , since it only adds to that debt and stop playing party politics. I could car less if a candidate is Republican or Democrat, as long as what needs to be done is done.
Can we stop this "sensitivity" crap. So the truth hurts, get over it. Be careful throwing those rocks, someone might throw a bigger one back at you, and not miss. Do everybody a favor, close the door behind you when you are finished with all your boo ooh they hurt my feelings.
People take things too litterally and run with them just to destroy a persons reputation. In terms of a close family structure, they might be right. But is is not just black children, it is a huge portion of our inner city youth that are now lacking real parents. Divorce, crack, heroin, long term welfare and liberalism have destroyed inner city families and left children almost to fend for themselves.
More poisonous dribble from the leftist readers. When have democrats done anything for lower and middle class people? Never. By creating more laws and regulations? By growing government so we can offer people jobs that a chimpanzee could do? We are currently doing nothing to grow the economy and raising taxes will seal the deal if that is decided in the few weeks.
Any republican in the whitehouse would do a better job than Obama; Herman Cain included. Yes, I would vote for Herman Cain in a second. I would vote for Condi Rice in a second. They both would have a plan to grow the economy–for all socioeconomic levels.
Middle class and poor people do not supply the jobs. Small business owners and up do. Smaller government would allow all people a piece of the action if they choose to work hard and take chances. All the dems want to do now is offer up more narcotic like entitlements to keep those voters addicted and numb. They'll keep coming back wanting even more.
And these idiots are running for President? Unbelievable!
How about signing a pledge stating you will support and defend this nation instead of trying to tear it down. I am so sick and tired of hearing about these canidates signing yet another pledge that attempts to bring this country furture to the right, how about they stick to the pledge most Americans grew up saying "The Pledge of Alligance".
It's no telling how many other Teapublican officials along with the seven dwarfs may have signed this pledge, but the two named does not surprise me at all. This has to be the most ignorant piece of made-up crap put out to date. For Santorum and Bachmann to be a part of it fits their make-up and where they come from. I find it amazing that Americans tolerate this blatant racial bigotry.
Sandy stated:
"Darn! I was hoping that Bachman would knock Mitt out of the running. Oh, well, looks like she just killed her campaign with this racist and anti-American pledge."
----------------------------------------------–
Sandy.....I disagree. The problem with your thinking is that Backman supporters will reject her based on the wording in this 'pledge'.
The sad part is.....they won't!
Why? Because truth is irrelevant.....and racism never manifested in their behavior.
Instead, they'll say that Whites who cry "racism" are victims of "White Guilt".....and Blacks (and Hispanics) who cry "Racism" are only "pulling the 'race' card".
Its nice how they make African Americans slaves sound like they came to this counrty to find a better life for their familys.... to live the American dream. They forgot to mention that they were chained up beatened and forced to come here. When they got here they were beatened,whiped, traded and sold. If they tried to escape they were killed. The GOP is killing this country. We got to stop them. You got to vote in 2012.