Though hardly a groundswell, the eight Republican votes for repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in the Senate Saturday was more than even its supporters expected. At FiveThirtyEight.com, Nate Silver notes that seven of those eight represent states that Barack Obama carried in 2008.
Given the widespread support for repeal, Silver says, “Republicans seemed to conclude they might have been taking on some measure of risk by voting to perpetuate a policy that a clear majority of the public wanted to see repealed.”