Politico has a story about how Republicans in Congress are staying eerily quiet about the news that the Supreme Court is going to be addressing gay marriage. Anti-gay bigots are outraged that Republicans no longer have their backs:

“...it’s clear GOP elites don’t want to talk about it and want to keep it as quiet as possible,” said Maggie Gallagher, a founder of the National Organization for Marriage and a fellow at the conservative American Principles Project. “That’s so obvious, I don’t see any point in pretending otherwise.”

Tom McClusky of the Family Research Council said he assumes from conversations he’s had with congressional aides that lawmakers are pleased the high court is taking up the issue. “But there’s just radio silence” publicly, McClusky said. “I was disappointed there wasn’t more from the Hill.”

And a top gay-rights activist, who asked not to be named because of his outreach to Republicans, said he hasn’t “heard or seen anything” from GOP leaders or members. “They’re really just hoping this issue will go away.”

This is obviously not ideal. Mitt Romney ran a whole campaign predicated on the belief that if he didn't mention any of the issues he felt strongly about, Americans would elect him anyway. That philosophy obviously didn't work for Romney (or Rob McKenna), but it has worked for Republicans in states like Wisconsin and Michigan. But that silence comes at a huge cost for conservatism, too: if the party line is to just shut up about gay marriage, it seems as though we're not too far away from a time when moderate Republicans publicly embrace gay marriage.