Kathryn, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch agrees with your point on the Missouri marriage vote. Apparently, Democrats outnumbered Republicans at the polls. That makes the already dramatic 71 percent vote in favor of the Missouri marriage amendment all the more impressive. The Post-Dispatch also notes that gay marriage advocates outspent opponents, and launched a major television ad campaign to boot. If, after all that, a bellwether state like Missouri still approved its marriage amendment by a margin of 71 percent, people might want to rethink the notion that the Federal Marriage Amendment cannot win. There is a serious showdown coming up between the courts and the states. And when it becomes clear that all of the state constitutional amendments that are about to be passed could be voided by the U. S. Supreme Court, the national campaign for the Federal Marriage Amendment is going to take off like a rocket.