Republicans attack gay rights as Iowa caucus nears

As the Iowa Republican caucus race heats up and Jan. 3 nears, the GOP hopefuls are brandishing their biggest and best conservative credentials. While the polls indicate Mitt Romney has a slight lead over his closest rivals, it’s still too close to call.

Here’s a smattering of some of the latest homophobic and other quotes from the leading presidential candidates:

“We don’t come out of a background where we can buy a seat or buy, as Mayor Bloomberg did, buy the mayorship of New York. I mean if you look at how much he spent, he just wrote a check and bought it. I think that’s very dangerous to the future of American democracy. My dad served in the Army for 27 years; I was a college teacher. I’m a middle class person.”

– Newt Gingrich

“Mitt Romney has defended gay marriage and even signed marriage licenses for same-sex couples, and Ron Paul doesn’t believe the government should protect the institution of marriage. I have a record of defending life, marriage, and the family, and I’ll protect them as president of the United States.”

– Michele Bachmann

“We’re not first, and those polls have been all over the map and it shows we’ve made progress — it shows the people of Iowa are getting down to making the tough decisions to who they are going to support in their final analysis… Well, look, I have nothing against gay people. They have rights of every other citizen. But what they did in Iowa and what some are trying to do – not all gays – but some are trying to do is change the laws of this country with respect to what the definition of marriage is.”

– Rick Santorum

“I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. That’s my view… I think at the time the Constitution was written it was pretty clear that marriage is between a man and a woman. And I don’t believe the Supreme Court has changed that.”

– Mitt Romney