The Family Leader Unveils Marriage Pledge a Week Before Hosting Gingrich Visit

By Lynn Campbell

From IowaPolitics.com

DES MOINES — Four days before featuring thrice-married former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich in its presidential lecture series, the Iowa Christian conservative group called The Family Leader made it clear that personal fidelity to one’s spouse should be a top priority for all presidential candidates. 

“Our exceptional and free society simply cannot endure without … nurturing nuclear families comprised of sexually faithful husbands and wives,” said Chuck Hurley, president of the Iowa Family Policy Center, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that advocates strengthening the family and is part of The Family Leader. “We acknowledge and regret the widespread hypocrisy of many who say they defend marriage, yet turn a blind eye toward the epidemic of infidelity and the anemic condition of marriages in their own communities.” 

The Family Leader, a 501(c)4 nonprofit advocating social conservative issues, on Thursday unveiled a pledge called “The Marriage Vow: A declaration of dependence upon marriage and family.” The group will present the pledge to President Barack Obama and all Republican presidential candidates by July 15, and ask that the pledges be returned by Aug. 1. Results will be announced at or around the Iowa State Fair. 

At the top of the list: “Personal fidelity to my spouse.” 

Yet Gingrich, who will speak Monday at Pella Christian High School and at the University of Iowa as part of The Family Leader’s presidential lecture series, has been married three times. His previous marriages to Jackie Battley and Marianne Ginther ended in divorce after he had affairs with younger women and when his wives were seriously ill. He has been married to Callista Bisek since Aug. 18, 2000. 

“This vow and this pledge is not intended to beat any person up, any candidate up for their past,” said Bob Vander Plaats, president and chief executive officer of The Family Leader. “It’s about looking forward to the future and embracing the authenticity of one man, one woman marriage and its impact on the family.” 

Vander Plaats said he’d welcome a candidate who has previously been unfaithful to his or her spouse to sign the pledge. 

“I think what we recognize as an organization, what we recognize as a people of faith, is that we all fall short,” he said. “I’m sure there’s plenty of things in my past that people could beat me up for … What we’re saying is let’s move forward. Let’s move forward and you’re looking to be president of the United States, let’s show a commitment to personal fidelity.” 

A footnote on The Family Leader’s pledge says: “As applicable if married now, wed in the future, or whenever interacting with another’s spouse, a person of the opposite sex or of personal attraction. No signer herein claims to be without past wrongdoing, including that of adultery. Yet going forward, each hereby vows fidelity to his or her marital vows, to his or her spouse, to all strictures and commandments against adultery, and to resist the lure of pornography destructive to marital intimacy.” 

Gingrich, himself, has been open about his past. 

“I think you don’t get past that,” he said during a March appearance on Iowa Public Television’s Iowa Press. “I think you tell the truth. I think you share your life’s experiences and you admit that you’ve had weaknesses and that you’ve had failures and that you’ve gone to God to seek forgiveness and seek reconciliation. And then people make a decision and they look at the totality of my life.” 

The Family Leader’s pledge also calls for: 

•Respect for the marital bonds of others 
•Fidelity to the U.S. Constitution and support of faithful constitutionalists as justices 
•Vigorous opposition to any redefinition of marriage including polygamy or same-sex marriages 
•Earnest legal advocacy for the Defense of Marriage Act 
•Embracing a federal constitutional amendment banning gay marriage 
•Protection of women and children from abortion, infanticide, human trafficking, sexual slavery, promiscuity, pornography and prostitution 
•Rejection of Sharia Islam and other anti-woman, anti-human rights forms of totalitarian control 
•Recognition that “robust childbearing” and reproduction is beneficial to the nation’s health and security 
•Commitment to downsizing government and the $14.3 trillion public debt and $1.5 trillion federal deficit 

It was unclear Thursday which presidential candidates would sign the pledge, since the candidates had not yet received it. The pledge will help to determine who The Family Leader chooses to endorse this year, following its presidential debate scheduled for Nov. 19 in central Iowa. 

Former state Sen. Jeff Angelo, R-Ames, chairman of Iowa Republicans for Freedom, which supports marriage equality, said voters are never well-served when an elected representative pledges to conform to the narrow agenda of a special interest group and shuts out any further input from the people who've elected that person. 

"Iowans are having a very important dialogue about ensuring that all residents are treated fairly by their government — a long-standing and central principle of our state,” Angelo said. “This pledge is an attempt to shut down dialogue between voters and the people vying to represent them. 

“It's clear that this pledge, with a range of topics covering Sharia Law and the freedom to marry, is more to advance the political ambitions of Bob Vander Plaats than begin a meaningful conversation with Iowans,” Angelo said.