Serial Adulterer Newt Gingrich "Endorses" The Iowa Marriage Pledge

By Mona Goldwater, Ethics Editor

From today's @NewYorkTimes:  "Newt Gingrich became the latest Republican candidate to endorse the so-called marriage pledge, a controversial document put forward by an influential evangelical group in Iowa that opposes same-sex marriage and abortion."

"Mr. Gingrich stopped short of signing the pledge, however."

The Iowa pledge, put together by the Family Leader, asks candidates to try to block same-sex marriage and women “in forward combat roles.” It also requires pledgees to remain faithful to their spouses and support “robust childbearing and reproduction.”

Newt didn't actually sign; he just "endorsed" it.   Perry, Bachmann, and Santorum all did sign the pledge.  Newt, of course, is the only one in the field who has publicly admitted to cheating on two of his wives (so far). 

The pledge's relevant section follows.  If Newt is really reformed, as he claims, it looks like he can endorse the Pledge with a (more or less) clear conscience:

"9 — 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."

Mr. Gingrich is off the hook with the pledge for his past sins. 

The most interesting part of the pledge is where they get into economics.  WTF?  How is this in the Marriage Pledge?:

"Commitment to downsizing government and the enormous burden upon American families of the USA‟s $14.3 trillion public debt, its $77 trillion in unfunded liabilities, its $1.5 trillion federal deficit, and its $3.5 trillion federal budget." Again, this is in "The Marriage Vow."

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