Congressional liberals were heartened when Barack Obama pledged to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell,” but their initial elation has given way to concerns the repeal will stall in the penalty box of presidential promises: the U.S. Senate.
Obama’s historic commitment — featured prominently in his State of the Union speech last month — helped soothe his frayed relationship with the politically powerful gay and lesbian community.
It also sent a strong signal to the Democrats’ demoralized, demobilized progressive base that he’s still on their side, after delays and compromises on the public option, cap and trade and the closing of Guantanamo Bay.
But House Democratic leadership aides tell POLITICO they are growing increasingly worried over the lack of a detailed White House road map for passing a repeal — and that without such a road map, repeal will end up in the same kind of Senate gridlock that hobbled health reform.
And hopes that Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) would galvanize moderates in both parties to the cause by introducing the repeal bill have yet to materialize despite months of negotiations between Lieberman and the White House, according to people familiar with the situation.
“Not only did Obama toss [‘don’t ask, don’t tell’] to a Congress that’s preoccupied with the economy and the midterms — he tossed it to perhaps the most dysfunctional Congress in the history of the country,” said a senior aide to a Senate Democrat who has been pushing for repeal. - Politico Story
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