Yesterday, we wondered: If Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has based his support for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” on the support of men like Gen. Colin Powell, and Powell has come forward in favor of the move to repeal DADT, would McCain change his stance?
The answer: No.
“Senator McCain has no plans on revising his stance until the policy review has been completed,” and military leaders have made their official recommendations, his spokeswoman, Brooke Buchanan, told TPM.
Earlier this week, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Michael Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced the military will begin a study on the effects of repealing DADT. The study could take up to a year. Both, however, expressed support for a repeal.
“Senator McCain is still opposed to repealing it,” Buchanan added.
Powell, the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff who helped instituted the policy in 1993, announced yesterday that he supports the military’s “new approach” to begin a repeal. He added that he has been calling for a review of the policy for two years.
Mullen, Powell’s present-day counterpart, has expressed his adamant personal support for repealing the policy: “For me, personally, it comes down to integrity: Theirs as an individual, ours as an institution.”
But the key for McCain is that Mullen was speaking on his own behalf, not that of the military.
