Pawlenty, Romney reject controversial marriage pledge as candidates take sides

A controversial pledge in support of traditional marriage has begun to split the Republican presidential field. So far it has left Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum alone in their support for the divisive document.

Today, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced in a statement that he would not be signing "The Marriage Vow." The pledge was released last Thursday by Iowa Christian conservative group The Family Leader, which has been issued as a first step towards earning the group's 2012 endorsement:

I deeply respect, and share, [Family Leader President] Bob Vander [Plaats'] commitment to promoting the sanctity of marriage, a culture of life, and the core principles of the Family Leader's Marriage Vow Pledge. However, rather than sign onto the words chosen by others, I prefer to choose my own words, especially seeking to show compassion to those who are in broken families through no fault of their own.

Pawlenty joins Mitt Romney, whose campaign revealed yesterday that although the former Massachusetts governor "strongly supports traditional marriage" he would not be signing the pledge due to language "undignified and inappropriate for a presidential campaign."

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Monday said he would not sign unless the document underwent some revisions. And former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson, who is waging an underdog campaign for the GOP nomination, has flatly rejected the pledge.

Controversy has erupted over multiple provisions in the "Marriage Vow," including language about single-parent homes that states: "Children raised by a mother and a father together experience better learning, less addiction, less legal trouble, and less extramarital pregnancy." Pawlenty referenced the issue in his rejection statement Wednesday.

As we reported yesterday, the pledge also contains hot-button views related to women in combat, homosexuality, marriage, divorce and pornography.

[You can read the full pledge via the Family Leader: here.]

As of Wednesday afternoon, Bachmann and Santorum remained the sole GOP candidates to have signed on, and that was even before The Family Leader decided to delete language that suggested the black family was better off under slavery (a passage Bachmann's camp claims she didn't sign up to support).

Now it's almost guaranteed the document will become a campaign issue. Non-signers such as Romney or Pawlenty can press Bachmann to defend some of the pledge's more controversial language. Similarly, Bachmann will have the credo at her disposal when she wants to champion her social conservative credentials, or potentially weaken Pawlenty, Romney and Gingrich's stated support for traditional marriage.

On Wednesday, the same day Pawlenty publicly rejected the pledge, his campaign released a six-minute video and a radio ad about he and his wife's evangelical faith. The video includes a clip of Pawlenty championing his support for traditional marriage.

Presidential candidate Texas Rep. Ron Paul stated earlier this week he was in the process of reviewing the pledge, and businessman Herman Cain, who is black, told the Des Moines Register Monday he was aware of the controversial language but had not personally reviewed the document.