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Vote on Gay Marriage Ban Backfires on GOP

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Times Staff Writer

When Senate Republicans scheduled a vote on a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, they knew it would fail. They were hoping instead to put Democrats -- and their expected presidential nominee, Sen. John F. Kerry -- on the spot.

But with the vote coming today, it is a divided Republican Party that will seal the measure’s doom. And it is President Bush who faces a potentially embarrassing defeat in the Republican-controlled Senate on a measure he has pushed.

There may not even be a straight up-or-down vote on the measure. The amendment, which would define marriage as a “union between a man and a woman,” may succumb to a filibuster if the Senate cannot muster 60 votes to limit debate and put the issue to a vote.

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Republican sponsors acknowledged that they were far short of the two-thirds majority -- 67 votes -- necessary to pass a constitutional amendment. They pushed for a vote anyway to gain favor with social conservatives and to force Democrats to cast a potentially difficult vote just weeks before their party’s national convention.

“It’s purely and completely symbolic politics,” said William Lunch, a political scientist at Oregon State University, “because the votes are nowhere near there to send the amendment out to the states” for ratification.

But the amendment has caused discomfort within the GOP’s ranks, despite Bush’s support for it.

Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lincoln Chaffee of Rhode Island, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and John McCain of Arizona have come out against the amendment.

Collins told reporters Tuesday: “I see no need for a constitutional amendment ... at a time when we already have a federal law on the books that protects the rights of states to define marriage as between a man and a woman.”

Even Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), usually a reliable GOP vote, expressed concerns about the wording of the measure, saying it could prevent states from passing legislation dealing with civil unions and domestic partnerships.

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A few other GOP senators, including Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, have not said how they will vote. Specter, who barely beat back a primary challenge from a more conservative Republican, is working hard to gain the support of social conservatives. But if he votes for the amendment, he could alienate the suburban swing voters he needs to win in November.

During Tuesday’s debate, Democrats criticized the amendment as intended to divert attention from more pressing problems, such as turmoil in Iraq.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) called the measure a “desperate ploy to divide the nation for political advantage.” Supporters of the measure argued that same-sex marriages were a national problem that required a national solution.

“If we don’t act, the courts will take away the ability for the states to act in how they define marriage,” said Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.), the amendment’s chief author.

The White House, urging the Senate to pass the measure, said in a statement that with a “few activist judges” attempting to redefine the fundamental meaning of marriage, “the only alternative left ... is an amendment to the Constitution -- the only law a court cannot overturn.”

Kerry and his chosen running mate, Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.), have stated that they do not believe in same-sex marriage but do support civil unions between homosexual couples and oppose the constitutional amendment, according to their presidential campaign. A Kerry aide said the two senators would not return to Washington if the measure faced a straight up-or-down vote.

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Both sides continued to lobby hard Tuesday.

Entertainer Pat Boone visited the Capitol to drum up support, and the Christian Coalition of America told senators that their votes would be recorded on “scorecards” distributed throughout the nation before the November election.

On the other side of the issue, the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group, ran television ads in the home states of a number of key Senate Republicans, including Colorado, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, featuring Vice President Dick Cheney’s wife, Lynne, declaring that the states, rather than the federal government, should have the last word on conferring legal status on relationships.

Don Kettl, a University of Wisconsin political scientist, said Bush and Senate GOP leaders risked alienating swing voters in the Northeast and Midwest by highlighting the amendment.

“There are lots of moderate Republicans in these states trying hard to stay in sync with their own districts, and the Bush push to the right makes it harder for them to walk that tightrope,” Kettl said. “It is sure to cause problems for other Republicans.... Given how close some key Senate races are likely to be -- and how very, very close some relatively moderate key swing states could be -- it’s a risky strategy indeed.”

Among those facing a difficult choice is Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), who supports the amendment although he has championed legislation to expand federal hate crime laws to cover acts of violence against gays and lesbians and prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

“I believe that marriage, as we have known and practiced it in this country for hundreds of years now, is something that should be preserved,” he said.

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