The real real story of the vote on the intolerance amendment: reframing worked

In The real story of the vote not to vote on the intolerance amendment I said that the real story of the vote not to impose cloture on the intolerance amendment is that the vote didn't force Senators to take a position on the amendment itself, only on whether a vote on the amendment should be taken -- and a majority was more than happy to agree not to vote on it.

But there is another more positive story as well. As reported in the Tallahassee Democrat

"Supporters of the amendment were careful in their arguments not to criticize gays and lesbians, reflecting the potential political ramifications of the debate in an election year.

'Gays have a right to live the way they choose,' said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah."

As far as I know, no Senator has recently said that same-sex sex is an abomination. The position that Democrats took of reframing the issue as one of intolerance instead of one of "defending marriage" forced the Republicans into having to defend themselves as not intolerant. In other words, reframing the issue worked!