Anti-Gay NH Group To Demand Marriage Pledge From 2012 Presidential Candidates

The New Hampshire-based anti-gay group Cornerstone Action plans to demand that 2010 presidential candidates sign a pledge to "defend traditional marriage." Roll Call reports:

“It was never a plan to make it into a national issue, but it just seems like the timing is right,” Kevin Smith, executive director of the socially conservative think tank New Hampshire Cornerstone, told Roll Call. In New Hampshire, where the GOP now holds veto-proof majorities in the House and Senate, legislative leaders recently decided to postpone action until next January on a high-profile bill to repeal same-sex marriage rights. The debate, which clogged hearing rooms and dominated Granite State headlines earlier in the month, is now scheduled to re-emerge at roughly the same time as the state’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary. Cornerstone will ask each Republican presidential candidate to sign a pledge agreeing marriage should be between one man and one woman. “Why not try to leverage the influence of the candidates to get them to declare their support for traditional marriage?” Smith said. “If you have a candidate saying they’re not willing to oppose same-sex marriage, I think they’ll have a problem. ... We have a wide membership list. We’ll certainly let them know.”

(Tipped by JMG reader Scott)