Maryland Republicans seem to have failed in their effort to bring a state defense of marriage amendment to a vote. While it’s possible to complain about the high-handedness of the Democrats in the state legislature, the fact is that they have a substantial majority.

"Now everyone knows where we stand," [House Majority Leader Kumar P.] Barve said. "The Republicans can complain about the outcome, but the bottom line is, it takes a majority of votes to get something passed here, and they did not have the votes."

Perhaps so, but might the voters not begin to see this as a problem?

And then there’s this article, which notes that the next governor, incumbent Republican Robert Ehrlich or his Democratic challenger, will be in a position to nominate three judges to Maryland’s highest court. While even three "conservative" nominations would unlikely decisively change the judicial status quo in Maryland (apparently the three judges slated to retire are more or less conservative), it’s hard to image that the gay marriage judicial decision will not have an impact on the November election, with or without a defense of marriage amendment on the ballot.