WhenWill NOM Admit Defeat?

As more and more states legalize gay marriage and the changes in federal programs continue to roll out in the wake of the ruling in United States v. Windsor, one has to wonder when the National Organization for Marriage will admit defeat and close up shop.  A column in the Washington Post looks at NOM's growing list of defeats and asks this question.  My own view is that NOM will struggle on as long as possible so that Brian Brown and others who have been enriching themselves with lush salaries and benefits can continue to milk the ignorant and gullible so that they can continue to enjoy the good life while peddling hatred and lies.  NOM and similar groups are little better than parasites cynically living off of others.  The column also recognizes that there are far better uses to which NOM could have directed its money.  Here are column excerpts:

Like a candidate losing every primary, you wonder how long the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) can hold on. Buzzfeed reports: “One of the nation’s leading organizations opposed to same-sex couples’ marriage rights found itself in the red at the end of a year in which it found itself on the losing end of four major state marriage fights, federal records show.” It’s now in the red to the tune of more than a million dollars.

What exactly does NOM do as voters in state after state decide to expand marriage to gay couples? There aren’t enough states for a constitutional amendment. It’s no longer a matter of judicial activism, but a sea change in public opinion that is propelling the legal shift. How many contests does NOM lose before it — or its donors — figures out the argument is not going to carry the day?

The irony is that there is something very important NOM could be doing, without even changing its name. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) had this to say recently at the Heritage Foundation:

[W]e simply must begin to address what we might call America’s “other marriage debate.” It is uncomfortable to talk about, and almost impossible to legislate. But the fact is, the problem of poverty in America is directly linked to family breakdown and the erosion of marriage among low-income families and communities. Implicit marriage penalties in our tax code and welfare programs surely need legislative remedies. But what we’re really talking about is a question of culture, not policy incentives.

Campaign for marriage, not against gay marriage. Root out marriage penalties in the tax code. Enlist religious and secular groups to tout marriage and inform people about its physical, psychological and economic benefits. Promote private marriage counseling. If MADD can change attitudes on drunk driving, the environmental movement can make recycling delinquents into social pariahs and a conservative talk show host and Democratic senator can set out to raise awareness of adoption, NOM can certainly lead a cultural movement to promote marriage.