Why FMA Matters - Courtesy of Drew, comes this NYTimes op-ed on why a losing vote on the Federal Marriage Amendment is still a win for conservatives because:

"failure on the cultural front serves to magnify the outrage felt by conservative true believers; it mobilizes the base. Failure sharpens the distinctions between conservatives and liberals...Losing is prima facie evidence that the basic conservative claim is true: that the country is run by liberals; that the world is unfair; that the majority is persecuted by a sinister elite. And that therefore you, my red-state friend, had better get out there and vote as if your civilization depended on it."

That is, conservatives get fired up when they think the world is out to get them, and that's exactly what the Senate's vote on the FMA delivered.