Marriage debate dividing Congress

"I intend to be your champion on many issues in the future, if you want me," Republican Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregon, a leader in efforts to make attacks against gays a federal hate crime, said while addressing his comments to gay and lesbian voters.

"But on this one, I have to be able to get up in the morning and look in the mirror and be true to myself," he said.

If senators say they're ignoring politics, groups aligned for and against the amendment make no such claims.

MoveOn.org, a liberal political organization, released a television advertisement to coincide with next week's debate that says President Bush called for the amendment as a diversion from more pressing problems.

"He's using the politics of hate to distract us from the real issues," said the group's executive director, Peter Schurman. "He wants to move America backwards by enshrining discrimination in the U.S. Constitution."

A coalition of conservative organizations supporting the amendment delivered more than 1 million signatures on petitions, a visible stack of boxes showing voters in support of the marriage amendment, and promised to deliver more.

"Americans from Arkansas to Utah see the urgency of this issue," said Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. "Now we are just waiting for the Capitol to catch up."

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Contributing: Deborah Bulkeley.