By Ed O'Keefe and Felicia Sonmez
UPDATED: 3:02 p.m.
With a key procedural vote scheduled for Saturday, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) declared Friday that efforts to repeal the ban on gays serving openly in the military were "on the brink of victory."
Speaking at a news conference with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.) and several gay service veterans one day after Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) announced he would introduce the repeal effort for the third time this year, Lieberman said he expects the repeal to pass the Senate -- and to do so with wider support than had been anticipated.
"I continue to believe that we're going to end up with more support on the Republican side than the four that we've talked about," he said.
Republican Sens. Scott Brown (Mass.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Olympia J. Snowe (Maine) have announced in recent days that they will vote to let the repeal proceed.
Joining Lieberman at the event were four service veterans who were discharged under "don't ask, don't tell." The quartet planned a sit-in in the Senate visitors' gallery, where they expected to remain for as long as the Senate is in session until repeal of the law is passed.
Stacey Vasquez, a 12-year Army veteran who was discharged under "don't ask, don't tell," said at the event that she was anxious ahead of Saturday's vote.
"I'm nervous about what's going to happen tomorrow," Vasquez said. "I'm personally nervous because this isn't process and procedure to me. It's not just a vote. This is my life."
"This is what I was called to do; it's what I want to do; it's what I'm inspired to do," she added.
"This is what I was called to do; it's what I want to do; it's what I'm inspired to do," she added.
The Senate will hold a vote on Saturday to proceed to debate on a bill that would end the law, Reid has said. A final vote could come later that day or the next.
A bill that included language ending the ban failed last week to earn the 60 votes necessary. A similar attempt failed in September.
But now, a filibuster-proof majority appears tenable: Fifty-seven members of the Senate Democratic caucus support a bill to end the ban, as have the four Republicans. Other Republicans could join them on the final vote, aides said.
"I believe we have the votes," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday.
Gay rights activists, caught off-guard Thursday by Reid's decision, also signaled optimism. "America is ready for a vote, and there's no need for any more waiting," said Fred Sainz, vice president of the Human Rights Campaign.
Activists had worried earlier Thursday that they might lose a "yes" vote when Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) announced plans to have surgery next week to treat early stage prostate cancer.
He will miss votes on Friday, Monday and Tuesday but will be available to vote all weekend. "Anything else he can make work, he will," said spokeswoman Jennifer Hoelzer.
Most Republican senators are expected to vote against the bill, preferring to consider the issue next year.
"We're in two wars, and I believe that right now would not be the right time to repeal it. That's my position, and I will hold it," Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Thursday night during a CNN interview.
When asked, McCain said his son, Jimmy, who served with the Marine Corps in Iraq, is opposed to ending the ban. "His words to me, as so many thousands of others' words have been to me, 'It isn't broke, don't fix it,'" McCain said, adding he is "reluctant" to discuss the personal opinions of his children.
In a quiet show of support, dozens of service members discharged under "don't ask, don't tell" plan to sit in the Senate gallery on Friday as senators continue debating the New START treaty.
"Service members are making it absolutely clear that senators need to stay in town until repeal is passed," said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, the group organizing Friday's sit-in. "We simply cannot let the clock run out and lose this historic opportunity."
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