1 Boring Old Man

Senate fails in attempt to repeal ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’
Washington Post
by Ed O’Keefe
September 21, 2010
^{Updated 5:49 p.m.}

Efforts to repeal the military’s "don’t ask, don’t tell" suffered a near-fatal blow on Tuesday as senators fell short of earning the 60 votes necessary to start debate on the annual defense policy bill by a vote of 56 to 43. Tuesday’s vote does not end efforts to lift the military’s 17-year ban on gays serving openly in uniform, but makes it almost impossible to ensure a repeal is included in the final House-Senate compromise version of the defense bill that lawmakers may vote on during a lame-duck session after November’s midterm elections.

The vote’s fate was sealed early Tuesday, when Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who supports repealing "don’t ask," said she disagreed with Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid‘s decision to restrict the number of amendments to the bill. "For the life of me, I do not understand why the majority leader does not bring this bill to the floor and allow free and open debate and amendments from both sides of the aisle," Collins told reporters. Vice President Biden spoke with Collins on Tuesday to appeal for her support, according to administration officials. Biden has been lobbying senators on behalf of the legislation since the bill was in committee, and his call Tuesday marked a final push to secure a single Senate Republican vote…

Sen. John McCain blasted those plans, calling them, "a blatant and cynical attempt to galvanize the Hispanic vote in the case of the DREAM Act and to also energize the gay and lesbian vote in the case of ‘don’t ask, don’ t tell.’" Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) agreed: "This is just transparent, brazen, let’s check special interests bloc politics forty-something days before an election"…