True PATRIOTS! DADT Repeal Opponents (McCain, Graham) Taking Revenge On Russian Arms Treaty

[jefferson_dem]

Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Opponents Taking Revenge On Russian Arms Treaty
First Posted: 12-20-10 02:35 PM | Updated: 12-20-10 03:08 PM

WASHINGTON -- The repeal of the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy over the weekend was a major victory for the White House, but it is now imperiling a chief priority: the ratification of the nuclear-arms-reduction pact with Russia known as the New START Treaty. Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) had promised the White House early last week that they would deliver the votes necessary to ratify the START treaty if the administration would pull the repeal of the military's DADT policy off the lame-duck agenda, according to Democratic aides familiar with the pair's offer.

The White House declined the offer and pushed ahead with repeal; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) brought it to the Senate floor Saturday, where it won 63 votes to defeat a filibuster, and 65 votes on final passage.

Now that DADT has been repealed, Graham is signaling he'll no longer vote for the treaty. "If you really want to have a chance of passing START, you better start over and do it in the next Congress because this lame duck has been poisoned," Graham said on CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday.

McCain, on the Senate floor last week, sought to beat back the notion that he would necessarily oppose the treaty if the DADT repeal went forward. "There continues to swirl allegations that there is going to be a vote for or against because of another piece of legislation," McCain said. "I think the senator from South Carolina and you and I and every member of this body is very aware of the absolute importance of this treaty and for us to make the decision strictly based on the merits or demerits of the treaty," McCain said, referring to Graham and Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), who was also on the floor.

The aides briefed on the pair's offer say that McCain and Graham were not promising to vote against START if the DADT repeal went forward, but rather that they promised to round up support for it if it didn't, a subtle but significant difference. Graham and McCain are highly respected within the party on foreign-policy issues and their support would assure passage.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/20/dont-ask-dont-tell-oppone_n_799238.html

[Ian David]

1. A loose nuke would be used on an American city. And cities aren't a huge source of Republican votes.