WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Senate began debate Monday on a proposed constitutional amendment that would prohibit the desecration of the American flag, the latest in a series of election-year votes pushed by the chamber's Republican leaders. Observers give the flag amendment a better chance of passing than the one to ban same-sex marriages that was defeated earlier this month. That was another vote aimed at mobilizing the GOP's conservative base before November's midterm elections. A vote is expected this week, before the Fourth of July congressional recess. Sen. Arlen Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, compared the measure to...