POLITICS

Conservatives Not Discouraged by FMA Vote

By David Brody
Congressional Correspondent

July 15, 2004

CBN.com – WASHINGTON - Conservatives are promising to press on with their fight to protect traditional marriage. The Federal Marriage Amendment lost on its first vote, despite an overwhelming flood of public support. But analysts say same- sex marriage will still be a key issue in the fall elections.

The Senate decision on the FMA concluded with, "On this vote, the yeas are 48, the nays are 50."

And with that, the Federal Marriage Amendment died in the Senate - for now. Republican leadership needed 60 votes. They came up 12 short. Now, FMA probably will not see the light of day until next year.

The lead sponsor, Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO) says it is time to plot strategy. He said, "Our next step is to sit down with our colleagues and see where their concerns are and begin to work toward a consensus."

CBN News caught up with Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) after the vote, and he told us that this outcome was expected.

Hatch commented, "I had done a vote count four months ago, and I knew we didn't have the votes to do this, but this is an important battle. This is battle number one. You these very important constitutional amendment issues and they take time, but the American people have got to start getting worked up about this."

Though the final vote count was no doubt deflating to supporters of the FMA, the view within Republican circles is that amending the constitution takes take, and never works on the first try.

And now, all senators are on the record as to where they stand on this issue, with the fall elections just months away.

This fall, nine states will have constitutional marriage amendments on their ballots. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) says the Senate vote will help that effort.

Brownback said, "It will continue and it will continue until the fall, and I think it will be a significant issue in the fall elections."

That is not good news for the Kerry campaign; the less talk about gay marriage, the better. The issue presents a problem for Democrats in general, because the public is so opposed to it. And candidate Kerry doesn't speak about it on the campaign trail unless he is forced to. A few months ago, he stated that he is against gay marriage, but he does not support a Federal Marriage Amendment.

"I've said very clearly I don't personally happen to support marriage, said Kerry. "This is not a new position. It's the same position I've always had. There's no revelation in it."

But conservative critics say, wait a minute. They say that this issue falls into the flip-flop category. They point to how eight years ago he voted against the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as only between a man and a woman. Back then, Kerry said, such a measure was not necessary, and was only one of 14 senators to vote against it. Now, he says, DOMA is the law of the land.

The President has been pretty clear on this issue from the outset, saying consistently that marriage should be between a man and a woman. He threw his support behind a constitutional amendment earlier this year, and he has held firm to that stand since then.

Again just last week, he said, "This is too important a decision to have defined by four judges in a state, say, like Massachusetts. And therefore, I believe the people ought to be encouraged to participate in the process."

Supporters of an FMA hope the people take a stand this fall. Already, conservative Christian groups have said the fight has just begun, and that they are determined to mobilize the base, hoping this 'no' vote on the Federal Marriage Amendment will galvanize conservatives in the November election, and help elect more supporters of the amendment.

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