It's here. It's near. Get used to it--the proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, that is. As thousands of people gathered to rally in support of gay rights outside the Capitol Thursday, the Minnesota Senate held a procedural debate about the amendment. For now, the Senate rejected an attempt by Sen. Michele Bachmann, R-Stillwater, to force a vote on the issue. MPR's Michael Khoo had some post-game analysis after the debate:

"It's not a political issue; it's a moral issue, it's a cultural issue, and it's also an issue of governance," Bachmann says. "Essentially it comes down to this: Will the people of Minnesota be able to decide the rules that they live under? Or will activist courts now decide the rules that we live under?"

Sen. Don Betzold, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said Bachmann filed the bill late and only asked for a hearing last week - just as his committee was bumping up against legislative deadlines. He said he'd give the bill a hearing - but left open the possibility it could be next year instead of this session.

It should matter little, he said, since the earliest a vote could be held on the measure is in 2006.

Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson, DFL-Willmar, blasted Bachmann for trying to circumvent the committee process.

"In her pursuit of a congressional seat, she is willing to break every rule," Johnson said. "That's what this is about."

Actually the Senate does have rules that allow a bill to circumvent the committee process. The Senate followed the rules Thursday and Bachmann lost the vote to bring the bill up for immediate debate.

The Pioneer Press has details of a meeting between rally participants and Bachmann:

OutFront Minnesota officials said almost all of the Legislature's 201 members heard from constituents who are gay or lesbian or their allies Thursday.

That list includes Bachmann. She met with about a dozen members of her Senate district who came for the rally.

"She did a lot of listening, at first," said Carol Waldoch of Forest Lake, who met with Bachmann. But things got a bit heated, Waldoch said, particularly because Bachmann had invited two people who call themselves "ex-gay" to the meeting.

"She was telling us we have a choice to live as we do," Waldoch said. Bachmann told them, as she has said before, that they can get married just like anyone else — but they have to marry someone of the opposite sex.

I guess I'll just leave that without a comment.

Big political doings in Minensota this weekend. Karl Rove is coming to Minneapolis Friday night to raise money for Gov. Tim Pawlenty. And Sen. Hillary Clinton is speaking to DFLers (and raising money for the party and herself) on Saturday. MPR's Mark Zdechlik looks Pawlenty's national prospects:

[Grover] Norquist said Karl Rove's fundraising visit clearly signals the Bush White House has confidence in Pawlenty and considers Minnesota important to national Republican politics. Long-time national Republican activist and strategist Paul Weyrick agreed but offered some context.

"I wouldn't read a whole lot more into it because Rove is holding fundraisers for practically everybody that you could consider to be a potential candidate for the presidency in 2008," Weyrich said. "In Gov. Pawlenty's case, assuming that he's going to run for re-election, he'll need plenty of funding, and Karl Rove is a hot item."

But Weyrich added that as Rove raises millions for Republicans around the country, he's also talent scouting.

"I expect that Rove won't stay in this White House for more than a couple of years," Weyrich said. "And at the conclusion of his service to the president, I think he's going to be looking for a client to guide into the White House in 2008. And I think this may be one way that he's looking at all potential clients for himself."

The Star Tribune takes a look at Clinton's Minnesota popularity:

While Clinton has remained mum on her presidential plans, [Sen. Mark] Dayton, who will introduce her at the dinner and attend a $1,000-per-person fundraising reception for her at the home of DFLer Vance Opperman, said her visit "shows a breadth of possible interest beyond 2006."

Dayton, who joined the Senate with Clinton in 2001, said he's ready to back her for president because "she's very experienced, very politically astute, very hard-working, very disciplined, very intelligent, and she's solid on the issues."

Clinton vs. Pawlenty in 2008? You never know.