Ferrablog

The Republican Party, desperate to rush the Federal Marriage Amendment to vote, and in the process attempt to paint the Democratic Party as a bunch of queer-lovers, have seen the effort spectacularly blow in up their collective face, to the point now where the Republicans are filibustering their own amendment:

Washington -- Sharp internal divisions sent Senate Republican leaders scrambling behind closed doors Monday to salvage a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage from an embarrassing defeat that could leave it short of even a simple majority.

The disarray broke out just two days before Republican leaders had planned a politically sensitive vote to put senators on record about whether a constitutional amendment should declare that marriage remain the union of one man and one woman.

But instead of a landmark debate, Republicans found themselves filibustering their own amendment to stop it from coming to the floor on Wednesday for a straight up-or-down vote -- out of fear that it might fail to get even 51 votes, much less the 67, or two-thirds majority, required to amend the Constitution.

Republicans apparently were taken by surprise when Democrats, sensing a huge victory, offered to lift their own objections and proceed to direct consideration of the measure.

BAD IDEA.