Has NOM's leaders gone AWOL in the public arena?

Is it just me or have the spokespersons and leaders of the National Organization for Marriage decided to go into hiding?

NOM's president Brian Brown has gone AWOL when it comes to public speaking. Not that he was a good one in the first place. As seen on one of his last appearances - on Fox News believe it or not - talking points uttered in a robotic tone doesn't exactly endear you to the audience.

But it's not only Brown who has embraced silence. We have yet to hear the organization's new chairman, John Eastman, on any type of news program.

It's a far cry from when Maggie Gallagher was chairwoman. The gay community couldn't get past a day without seeing her or hearing her comments on various programs, reciting the same lies about "being falsely labeled as a bigot" and how "marriage is the joining of two halves."

But now that Gallagher is no longer chairwoman,  NOM seems to have taken a shadowy pose.

Granted, the organization is still a force, but its allowing its money to do the job by pumping obscene amounts into statewide campaigns.

But generally NOM seems to have abandoned the idea of even trying to maintain a public image.

And I think it's because the folks behind NOM figure that the organization has enough money and influence not to maintain the game played by other organizations such as the Family Research Council or the American Family Association.

Or it could be that the organization realized that very few are buying what it was selling. It's hard to maintain an image of a morality group when you constantly having to fight laws regarding the disclosure of your donors.

Also, let's face facts regarding Maggie Gallagher. She - and Brown for that matter - were not good spokespeople. While Brown seemed to be badly repeating dictated talking points, Gallagher was a slow but constant disaster.

She had an awful television presence in that she was combative and evasive. She did well in front of audiences who agreed with her opinions regarding marriage, but on televised debates when faced with someone from the Human Rights Campaign or any other lgbtq group, Gallagher came across as phony. She tended to talk over folks, shout a bit, and if all else failed, pretended to be personally offended when someone actually called her out on her lies.

NOM's success is all about the money. The gay community knows this and so does NOM's people.


But what the gay community already knows  - and what NOM's people will soon find out - is that money can only get you so far when you aren't playing truthfully.