Newt takes no-adultery pledge

Politico ^

[Sub-Driver]

Newt takes no-adultery pledge

By ALEXANDER BURNS | 12/12/11 1:09 PM EST

When the Iowa social conservative group The Family Leader unveiled a sweeping pledge on marriage and abortion over the summer, Newt Gingrich was one of the candidates who passed on signing it.

Now, Gingrich has answered the pledge with a lengthy written response, vowing to support a federal marriage amendment, reinstate the Mexico City policy -- and, per the stipulations of The Family Leader pledge, to be faithful to his wife:

I also pledge to uphold the institution of marriage through personal fidelity to my spouse and respect for the marital bonds of others.

Gingrich's full response after the jump ...

To Bob Vander Plaats and the Executive Board of The FAMiLY LEADER:

I appreciate the opportunity to affirm my strong support of the mission of the FAMiLY LEADER by solemnly vowing to defend and strengthen the family through the following actions I would take as President of the United States.

Defending Marriage. As President, I will vigorously enforce the Defense of Marriage Act, which was enacted under my leadership as Speaker of the House, and ensure compliance with its provisions, especially in the military. I will also aggressively defend the constitutionality of DOMA in federal and state courts. I will support sending a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman to the states for ratification. I will also oppose any judicial, bureaucratic, or legislative effort to define marriage in any manner other than as between one man and one woman.

[SumProVita]

My post was about the fact that he has CHANGED. Read what his daughter said about that.

;-)

[dirtboy]

This latest ploy from Newt is as transparent as his lies.

On the surface, this does not play well for Newt, it just sets up too many retorts, given his history. But in reading the article, this was part of a larger social conservatism pledge by a group in Iowa for candidates to commit to. So I think it has to be placed in that context as well.

[Chunga]

Newt cheats on his former wives every day at Free Republic.

[TalonDJ]

And why are we suppose to think he will take this pledge any more seriously than his first two wedding vows?

[Political Junkie Too]

No. Those were vows. This is a pledge. ;-)

-PJ

[SumProVita]

“All they want is your phone number anyway.......... “

Huh?

“Well, that finally does it, string the dude up.”

Is this sarcasm?

[jdsteel]

Yes, I agree. At 67 I believe him!

[dirtboy]

Politico is spinning this (surprise). The pledge to be faithful to marriage was just one element:

Now, Gingrich has answered the pledge with a lengthy written response, vowing to support a federal marriage amendment, reinstate the Mexico City policy -- and, per the stipulations of The Family Leader pledge, to be faithful to his wife.

But Politico ran with just the one part because it allowed them to create an eyebrow-raiser headline.

[newzjunkey]

Spreading lies from Salon, I see.

We have daughter Jackie's account of that so-called death bed "cornering" of her mom by Newt.

Her mother is alive and well. The cancer surgery was not as the tumor was benign.

[reaganaut]

“better late than never?” ping

[edpc]

That’s generally included in your standard Christian marriage vows, but what do I know?

[Spunky]

I don't know how this pledge by the conservative group The Family Leader read, but if it was to vow not to commit adultery he couldn't sign it as he has already committed adultery. He has instead pledged to be faithful to his current wife.

Newt has confessed his sins and has asked for forgiveness.

[onyx]

A thousand times NO.
You cannot have my phone number!

[marty60]

98 story. no where does it mention she was on her deathbed.

It said RECOVERING.

Did he or didn’t he pay his alimony and CHILD support?

Did the Baptist Church have to help the family?

[Constitutionalist Conservative]

Irrelevant. His creator kept his promise to Newt. He died for his sin and in accepting that gift, Newt became justified in the eyes of God Almighty. That's enough for me. As the Bible passage goes: "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." Do you really want to go there? Everybody is fallible. Everybody has feet of clay. I'm a Calvinist, so I believe in the doctrine of universal and radical depravity of man. Even Christians sin. In my personal salvation, I did my part. I sinned. Jesus did his part, he gave his life for that sin. On that basis, I'm going to cut Newt a huge break on this topic. Remember, if you even think of the sin, it's the same as doing it. So which of you is blameless?

Irrelevant. The question is, can we trust him to keep the vow he just issued? All we have to go on is his track record.

[chuckles]

I can't believe everyone dissing Newt when FDR had a mistress in the WH, Kennedy had his Monroe, and Clinton had a dozen, some of which weren't even rapes. He's not even president yet and we already have Newt derangement syndrome. This topic will be a loser, in the long run, IMO.

The question is do we want jobs or an idiot that stayed married.

[CowboyJay]

"When did my party start bowing to the bob van plaats of the world"

As far back as I can remember. At least since Jerry Falwell's heyday. The Republicans realized they had to carve out a southern constituency if they wanted to win national elections, so they turned to the evangelicals. They wooed blacks first by backing Civil Rights legislation, but that went down the drain after the media (as unfairly as is humanly imaginable) painted Goldwater as a racist. I'm too young to remember the Nixon days very well, but I believe Billy Graham played a big part in getting him nominated and elected.

[truthkeeper]

How about the no big government pledge?
no progressive pledge?
no political correctness pledge?
no spending pledge?
no trampling the constitution pledge?
I could go on for days!!!

Amen, amen, and amen. I'm with you!

[sickoflibs]

.... for some reason I think bragging about this would not be smart for him to do. Thanks for the laugh.

[ExSoldier]

The question is, can we trust him to keep the vow he just issued?

That's not at all the same question you posed in the previous post. Vows to God about sin are impossible to keep. That was the entire point of the crucifixtion and resurrection. Political vows to the electorate are certainly possible to keep and I trust Newt to keep his word and not fall back into his old ways. Just as God has given him redemption, I feel I must as well. Trust, but verify, too. I guess my overriding concern here is that I personally think he's the best man for the job. You may think differently. That's okay. Right?