The Federal Marriage Amendment vote has restored my confidence in our government: In mid-May, CBS News conducted a poll with the following question,

"Would you favor or oppose an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would allow marriage ONLY between a man and a woman?" N=1,113 adults, MoE ╠ 3 (for all adults)

The results: Favor, 60%, Oppose, 37%, Don't Know, 3%

Yet today, a procedural vote relating to the FMA failed to garner a simple majority, effectively killing the constitutional amendment. Moreover, a few senators have said they will vote against the FMA on the final vote but still vote for the procedural vote; in total, this brings the number of senators supporting the FMA to about 46.

Its astonishing that a proposition supported by 60% of the public only finds 46% in the Senate. Further, this isn't an artifact of the way Senate representation distorts national opinion; the Senate is dominated by members from rural states where the public overwhlemingly supports the FMA.

When it came down to it, senators really voted their principles rather than their electoral advantage.