Tuesday’s release of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” report—which, as expected, reported the majority of troops are OK with gays openly serving along side of them—puts moderate Republicans in a vise.
Many of them now face a difficult choice: Do they continue supporting DADT and tarnish their moderate image, particularly if the economy begins rebounding in 2012 and cultural issues take a more prominent role on the campaign trail? Or do they support removing the ban on gays serving openly, and risk the wrath of a conservative base that has shown little tolerance for policy deviation with their leaders?
Polls have made it abundantly clear this year that the public overwhelmingly supports repealing the policy, none more so than a Pew Research Connections poll released Monday. It showed better-than two-to-one support for changing the law: 58 percent of those favor lifting the ban on gays serving openly in the military, compared to 27 percent who oppose changing current policy. That’s a 26-point swing in favor of repeal from a Pew poll taken a year after President Bill Clinton signed DADT into law in 1993.
Full Story: NationalJournal.com – DADT Adds Pressure to Moderate Republicans – Wednesday, December 1, 2010