View From the Hill

Granted, Solmonese was speaking theoretically, but 18 months from now would take us into November of 2010, so perhaps repeal would then be pushed past the midterms. The problem with that, of course, is that once you get to 2011, President Obama's team would begin to worry about 2012.

Though I'm not prone to hyperbole, I can't help recalling Maureen Dowd's recent column quoting Gavin Newsom's reflections on San Francisco marriages: "If we didn't do it in 2004, do you think the party would have wanted us to do it in 2006 during the midterm elections to take back Congress? God forbid. 2008? Well, it's another presidential year. And now people are saying 2010? That's another critical year to hold Congress, and we've got statehouses across the nation. 2012? Another presidential year. 2014? Another congressional year."

Our next chance to examine the Obama administration's mind-set on repeal will likely be next Wednesday, when Defense Secretary Bob Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen testify in front of the House Armed Services Committee on the Defense Department's 2010 budget. Activists expect that leaders on both sides of the aisle will ask about the administration's intentions regarding "don't ask, don't tell." Gates and Mullen will surely be prepped, but whether they will be "fired up and ready to go" on repeal remains to be seen.