Before her campaign started sinking in the polls, Michele Bachmann had habitually downplayed her opposition to all things gay as irrelevant. But in a new ad, brought to you by new campaign leadership, she wears it as a badge of honor.
"I'm running to be president of the United States," she reminds voters at the start, which is coincidentally a line she had once regularly employed to dodge questions about her belief in so-called reparative therapy to "cure" homosexuality and her opposition to same-sex marriage.
"Conservatives are being told once again that we should settle for anyone but Barack Obama," she argues. "Well, friends, this is the one year where we can't settle. I have fought for life from the statehouse to the United States Congress. I've led the charge as a champion for traditional marriage. And as president, I want you to know I'll fight for life and for marriage."
The ad is posted on YouTube under the headline "Don't Settle on Life and Marriage." It's a stark change from her "meet the candidate" interview on Meet the Press in August.
"You know, all of these kind of questions really aren't what people are concerned about right now," she insisted to moderator David Gregory.
Now those same social issues sound like one of her main selling points.
"We can have a president who believes in the power of prayer," she promises in the new campaign ad, "a president who is steadfast on the values of life and marriage and faith."
The ad is being released while all of the major Republican candidates are gathering at the Values Voter Summit in Washington. The Advocate found that the summit is filled with booths distributing antigay propaganda, but that hasn't stopped Bachmann or any of the others from attending despite calls from gay rights organizations that they skip it.
