Ron Paul is losing the GOP presidential
nominating contest because he does not support a federal
constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage, Brian Brown,
president of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), has
suggested.
In congratulating Mitt Romney for
winning the Nevada caucuses on Saturday, Brown noted that the former
Massachusetts governor has signed the group's anti-gay marriage
pledge and Paul has not.
“NOM congratulates Mitt Romney on
another impressive victory in the Nevada caucuses, just days after
his big win in Florida,” Brown said in a statement. “Governor
Romney, who has signed NOM's Marriage Pledge, has now won contests in
three different regions of the country and has clearly established
himself as the leading candidate.”
Candidates who sign NOM's 5-point
pledge promise to support a federal constitutional amendment banning
gay marriage, defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in court,
appoint judges and an attorney general who will “respect the
original meaning of the Constitution,” appoint a presidential
commission to investigate the “harassment of traditional marriage
supporters,” and back legislation that would allow a ballot
question on the issue for voters of the District of Columbia.
While the 76-year-old Paul has said he
is personally opposed to gay marriage, he has also called on the
government to “butt out” of the marriage business.
“I want the government out. If
you're going to have government under the constitution, the states
have a lot more authority than the federal government has to define
it. I'd rather see it be outside of government and then we would not
be arguing about this,” he told the Des Moines Register's
editorial board.
“Only Ron Paul, who has said that
civil marriage should be abolished all together, has refused [to sign
NOM's pledge],” the group added. “Paul is the only candidate who
has failed to win a single primary or caucus. Rick Santorum won in
Iowa while Newt Gingrich won in South Carolina.”
NOM earlier released a
video attacking Paul's position on the issue.