A constitutional amendment banning gay marriage has, as expected, been defeated for now in the U.S. Senate. But Sen. Sam Brownback says the fight isn’t over.The Washington Post says: _A constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, backed by President Bush and conservative groups, was soundly defeated in the Senate yesterday after proponents failed to persuade a bare majority of all senators to support the measure.__Supporters went into yesterday’s showdown knowing they could not muster the two-thirds majority needed to pass a constitutional amendment, much less the 60 votes needed to cut off debate and bring the measure to a final vote. But they had at least hoped to gain a simple majority of the Senate, or 51 votes. Instead, they fell short, 49 to 48.__Some conservatives sought to put a positive face on the outcome, noting that proposed constitutional amendments typically encounter an uphill battle.__”We’re making progress, and we’re not going to stop until marriage between a man and a woman is protected . . . protected in the courts, protected in the Constitution, but most of all, protected for the people and for the future of our children in this society,” Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) said after the vote._Focus on the Family adds: _Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., one of the bill’s managers, told CitizenLink after the vote he was more than disappointed at the tally.__”If the senators had voted as their states have already voted, the vote would have been 90-10 in favor of the amendment,” he said. “Forty-five states have defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman – and that’s what this amendment does – it defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman.”__Sens. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., and John D. Rockefeller IV, D-W.Va., did not vote.__”If everybody had been present, the vote would have been 50-50, which would have been an improvement over last time, but not near what we need to get the constitutional amendment to the states,” Brownback said.__Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., even called support for the amendment “a vote for bigotry, pure and simple.”__Brownback took exception to that.__”Marriage is the unit around which we build this country,” he said. “It is the unit around which we build families – a husband and wife, a mother and father, a man and woman bonded together for life.__”When that institution frays, our country frays. When that institution is redefined, we harm how we raise the next generation. It has had a profound impact in the countries that have already redefined, or in many respects have defined marriage out of existence.__”Those countries have seen an enormous drop-off in the number of people getting married, and a huge climb in the number of children born out-of-wedlock. That is not a long-term good and stable situation for a country to be in. It’s not the situation we want for America and it’s not the situation that the people want for America.”_AP adds: “People are going to be responsible for this vote,” said Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.How much of this week’s debate was politics, and how much a genuine desire to ban gay marriage?Knight Ridder reports: _The Republican Party’s conservative base has grown increasingly angry over immigration and federal spending, adding to problems that make 2006 a tough election year for the GOP. And politicians in trouble always turn to their base.__Sen. Sam Brownback, R.-Kan., a chief supporter of the amendment, called the timing coincidental, saying, “This is a critical policy issue.”__But a senior aide to a congressional Republican said the timing was a bid to “stop the bleeding.”__”This is one of those surefire ways to say, ‘See why you need us?’ ” the aide said._Other links today:Pat Roberts links(The Hill) Bernanke takes heat from sens. for his remarks about inflation: Ben Bernanke, the new Federal Reserve chairman, left more than just falling stocks and anxious investors in his wake this week. Some Republican lawmakers are increasingly concerned about his ability to drop the right economic hints without saying too much. Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) admitted that he “has never been much of a fan of our interest rates,” adding that Bernanke’s post is “allegedly independent from the administration and Congress.” Roberts was perplexed by Bernanke’s comments about an economic slowdown when many members of Congress are striving to emphasize growth. “It’s incongruous,” he said.(Knight Ridder) In Washington, stodgy men’s fashions never die: It’s so popular in hot, humid Washington that the Senate declares a Seersucker Thursday once every summer. About 20 senators joined in this arcane sartorial ritual last year. Among them was Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., memorably accessorized with an orange Princeton tie and white bucks. “I’m not a seer and I’m not a sucker,” grumbled Republican Sen. Pat Roberts, a Kansas populist. “But if you want to look like Pat Boone and sell ice cream on the Senate floor, that’s your business.”How to contact As always, you can find information to contact members of the Kansas congressional delegation here.