Pledging political suicide

Not content to have a small group in Minnesota create a pledge for GOP prez. candidates to sign, the National Organization for Marriage has one too. It is shorter and not as controversial as the previous one -- they only stick it to gays rather than trotting out every last GOP bogeyman. It has only five points:

* Support a federal marriage protection amendment.

* Nominate federal judges and attorney general committed to the original meaning of the Constitution (for the clueless they spell it out: who won't find a right to gay marriage in that fine document).

* Vigorously defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

* Establish a commission to investigate and document Americans who have been harassed for supporting traditional marriage.

* Demand that citizens of District of Columbia get a right to vote on marriage equality.

No surprise that Bachmann and Santorum signed it. Alas, Romney did too.

Rob Tisinai notes a contradiction: The last point is a demand that DC residents vote on marriage. The first point means with a federal amendment, all voters can't vote on marriage. Do we get to vote or not?

Timothy Kincaid of Box Turtle Bulletin notes a few pesky details:

* No way is two-thirds of the House or Senate going to vote for a marriage amendment, especially two to six years from now when opinions are more in our favor.

* By 2013 DOMA will be beyond federal courts and into the hands of the Supremes. And once an Attorney General declines to defend a law the next AG can't reverse that (I'll have to take his word for it).

* Establishing a commission to investigate how gays are harassing homophobes would be political suicide, especially once the report is released, showing how small the harassment has been. And then it would be compared to the harassment gays have received.

* DC added gay marriage because of its Human Rights act. Trying to get Congress to amend that act to specifically exclude gays would also be political suicide. Yes, we've come a long way.

Kincaid says don't worry about Santorum and Bachmann. But Romney could be hurt. He has just announced a litmus test for judges he might appoint. Ted Olson is leading the Calif. gay marriage case and defended Bush in Bush v. Gore, so we already know the question Romney will be asked: "Considering Ted Olson’s legal stature and established conservative credentials, would his support for same-sex marriage disqualify him from an appointment to the federal bench?"