As a political tactic, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the minority whip, can’t understand why Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) considers it a political plus to wrap himself in the gay-marriage and flag issues. Durbin aims at the kneecaps in making his point.

“If I wanted to be a critic on the other side, I would say, ‘You are wasting your time,’” Durbin said. “If you can’t improve on the votes, isn’t this a demonstration of your own ineptitude as a leader that you keep calling these things and losing them?”

Durbin made the dig late Tuesday, meeting with reporters in the Senate print gallery to go over all the things the senators could be doing if they were not busy with the gay-marriage matter.

Durbin said the Senate is running out of time to take up legislation on immigration, gas prices, healthcare and national security by being forced to deal with what he called “these bumper-sticker issues.”

I asked why the senators just don’t work more to make up the hours, and Durbin, noting the three-day D.C. weeks and the weeks of breaks, said he did not make the schedule.

“What Senator Frist is doing,” Durbin said, is focusing on a “conservative Republican base that is abandoning the president and the Republican leadership in Congress.”

On Monday, I asked Frist spokeswoman Amy Call about the prospects for the gay-marriage ban, and she said that when the votes are counted they hoped to “show progress.”

Well, there was progress. In 2004, the federal ban against same-sex weddings received 48 of 67 votes needed to advance. Yesterday, the Senate put up 49 of the 67 necessary votes.

The flag-burning amendment is teed up for Wednesday, Flag Day.

“As I drove through Illinois last week,” Durbin said, “I did not have to worry about people standing in the street burning flags. It does not seem to be a problem in our home state.”

I e-mailed Call to see if she wanted to comment about what Durbin said about Frist’s leadership. She replied, “Republicans have a record of accomplishments and meaningful solutions. … Democrats continue to be the party of no — no ideas, no solutions and no progress.”

On the road, Frist hit Pennsylvania on June 1 for events helping Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.).

• Hastert in Iraq. The surprise quick visit House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) made to Iraq and Qatar had actually been in the works for weeks. The group of four lawmakers and staffers left Andrews Air Force Base early last Thursday and arrived in Baghdad on Friday.

Hastert staffers traveling with the codel included spokesman Ron Bonjean, Chief of Staff Scott Palmer and Margaret Peterlin, Hastert’s adviser on national-security policy.

Hastert and the other lawmakers met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and parliament speaker Mahmud al-Mashhadani and dined with troops from Illinois, Florida and Maryland.

• Boehner road trips. House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) was the headliner in a string of events for House Republicans: May 30, Indiana’s John Hostettler, then to Louisville the same day for Anne Northup (Ky.); June 1 back to Indiana for Mike Sodrel (Ind.) and then home to Ohio on June 2 and 3 for funders for home-staters Pat Tiberi and Steven LaTourette.

Sweet is the Washington bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it