Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann on
Tuesday night said that President Barack Obama's support for gay
rights is among the reasons he should become a one term president.
Santorum was the dark horse of the Iowa
caucuses, securing a second place finish behind Mitt Romney, who won
Iowa with just a handful of votes to spare.
However, Bachmann, the winner of the
August Iowa Straw Poll, was a distant sixth in Iowa. The Bachmann
campaign has canceled her campaigning trip to South Carolina, the AP
reported. A Wednesday scheduled press conference has led to
speculation that the Minnesota Representative is preparing to call it
quits.
In comments to supporters on Tuesday
night, both candidates criticized Obama for his support of gay
rights.
Santorum, along with Bachmann and Texas
Governor Rick Perry, signed The Family Leader's controversial
14-point anti-gay marriage pledge, which asks each presidential
candidate to “vigorously” oppose marriage equality, be faithful
to his or her own spouse, vow to protect women and children from
pornography and reject Sharia law because it is a “form of
totalitarian control.”
“Since day one of Barack Obama's
presidency, I have led the fight in Washington against his liberal
socialist policies,” Bachmann said.
“What we need is a candidate in the
likeness and image of a Ronald Reagan.”
“What we need is a fearless
conservative. One with no compromises on their record. On spending,
on health care, on crony capitalism, on defending America, on
standing with our ally Israel, on securing our border from illegal
immigrants, on defending innocent unborn life, on protecting marriage
as one man and one woman.”
Santorum's reference was a bit more
opaque, stating only to supporters that “the state of our culture
under this administration continues to decline with the values that
are unlike the values that built this country.”