Republican senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts said in a statement today that he now supports repealing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays in the military: “I accept the findings of the report and support repeal based on [Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’] recommendations that repeal will be implemented only when the battle effectiveness of the forces is assured and proper preparations have been completed.”
But another Republican senator previously believed to be open to repeal, Richard Lugar of Indiana, now thinks that we need to “spend a lot more time thinking about how we begin to change that policy,” Lugar spokesman Mark Helmke tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD. Helmke cited the much stronger opposition to repeal of DADT among “front line” troops as a particular cause for concern.
