Chris Johnson reports that House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon is open to legislation that would delay the implementation of "don't ask, don't tell" repeal:
In December, President Obama signed legislation allowing for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal 60 days after he, the defense secretary and the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff certify the U.S. military is ready for open service. The legislation backed by McKeon, sponsored Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), would expand this certification requirement to include the service chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.
In his “Newsmakers” appearance, McKeon reiterated that he believes legislative repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” was hastily moved through the Democratic Congress last year.
Most other coverage on DADT dead-enders has been focused on Republican presidential candidates declaring they'd reinstate DADT outright while positioning themselves for a presidential run. McKeon, however, is in a position to actually slow-walk the repeal of DADT -- although it seems unlikely that such a proposal would make it through the Senate, particularly since DADT repeal managed to get some bipartisan support.
This brings me back to that CNN poll showing that majorities of Democrats and independents support marriage equality while more than 70 percent of Republicans continue to support the Defense of Marriage Act's ban on federal recognition of same-sex marriages. Republicans were closely split on repealing DADT in December of last year, while independents and Democrats were overwhelmingly in favor. Republican politicians are still on safe ground with their own base in opposing gay rights. They are, however, increasingly out of touch with the rest of the country.
The problem is not that Republican politicians are hopelessly behind the times; it's that the GOP base is hopelessly behind the times. Republicans opposing gay rights are, for the most part, doing exactly what their base wants them to do.
Polls measure public opinion, but they don't measure salience very well. We don't know how many Republican-leaning voters would be so disgusted with the GOP on gay rights that they'd vote for another candidate or stay home. At what point, though, does opposition to gay rights appear as retrograde and prejudiced to most of the country that it becomes a deal-breaker? A future where frank homophobia is as socially unacceptable as being openly racist doesn't seem that far off. Will the Republican base change its mind before that happens?
