They couldn't even get a majority for cloture. Final vote, 48-50. Three Democrats voted for the marriage ban amendment (including extreme homophobe Robert Byrd of W. Va.), while six Republicans crossed party lines to vote it down.
The very conservative Wall Street Journal editorial page, surprisingly, came out against the amendment. Along with Lynne Cheney's apostasy, it's evidence of further cracks on the right.
The only two senators not voting: Kerry and Edwards. The AP daybook placed Kerry at home in Boston -- not on the campaign trail, but not showing up in the Senate to vote on a proposed constitutional amendment. The great gay hope? Puleeeze.
Not voting may prove to have been a poor idea. Kerry's big problem is being seen as a waffler who tries to have it both ways -- voting for the war then against funding it, etc. Now add to the list that he opposed the Federal Marriage Amendment but not enough to vote against it. It's a matter of principle, and Kerry is principle-deficient. But his strategists no doubt took a narrower view, surmising there'd be no gain from voting against the ban (the gay vote is sown up tighter than a drum), and no pain for not voting against it. The politics of the free ride triumphs again.
I often hear, why do you hold Kerry to such a higher standard than the Republicans (in language not so polite). The reason is that we as a community are giving Kerry our money, labor and votes, that's why! If you buy a car from dealer A, you expect to have the car delivered. You kind of expect that dealer B across the street won't be giving you a car. But if dealer A fails to follow through, or provides a cheaper model (he figures he can get away with it because, in fact, dealer B doesn't much like your kind), you still have a right to feel cheated.