Tony Perkins, the president of the
Christian conservative Family Research Council (FRC), has blamed gay
marriage for the nation's economic downturn.
Perkins made his remarks alongside
presidential hopeful Rick Santorum on Wednesday morning at a Restore
Marriage Rally in downtown Concord, New Hampshire, the Concord
Monitor reported.
(Related: Rick
Santorum suggests gay marriage wrecked the economy.)
During the upcoming legislative
session, lawmakers in New Hampshire are expected to consider
repealing the state's gay marriage law.
Perkins told the crowd that such a move
would perk up the economy.
“You want to get the economy going
again?” Perkins rhetorically asked a crowd of about three dozen
people. “We need to put a focus on marriage and on children
because that is our future. Look at the GDP (Gross Domestic Product)
and growing the GDP – we'll never grow the GDP with a shrinking
population.”
Social conservatives are increasingly
attempting to link the economy with social issues. Recent polls have
found voters are fairly focused on fixing the ailing economy, not
social issues. Only 3 percent of Republican-leaning voters say
social issues are “the single most important issue” in deciding
on a GOP candidate for president, while 51 percent say it's the
economy, according to an ABC
News/Washington
Post
survey.