Democrats Revisit Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Democrats Revisit Don't Ask, Don't Tell
emocrats are convening the first congressional hearing on the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy since its enactment 15 years ago. But they acknowledge there's no chance of repealing it this year.
Indeed their only hope of success, they say, is if Democratic Sen. Barack Obama gets elected president.

"We need a new president in order to get this passed" — specifically, a President Obama, Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., told reporters on a conference call Tuesday convened by the Human Rights Campaign and the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.

Obama wants to repeal "don't ask, don't tell" and will work with military leaders to get it done, his campaign website says. Republican opponent John McCain supports "don't ask, don't tell."

Tauscher's legislation to overturn the policy has 133 co-sponsors. But key Democrats including House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., support the status quo, and there are no plans to bring the bill to a vote this year.

Tauscher said she has no interest in a "show vote" that her side might lose.

Instead, the hearing Wednesday in the Armed Services Committee's military personnel panel is meant to draw attention to the issue and to the growing public sentiment in favor of gay people serving openly in the military, Tauscher said.

In a Washington Post-ABC News poll over the weekend, 75% of respondents said openly gay people should be allowed to serve, up from 62% in early 2001 and 44% in 1993.