I think Nobel Laureate President Barack Hussein Obama (that's a fun assembly of identifiers to string together, isn't it?) wanted Congress to get rid of DADT rather than copy the Cheney/Bush Imperial Presidency's methods and issue unquestionable edicts from on high. If he could get some hard legislation down on the books then any future Executive couldn't simply reverse the previous White House stance on this; they would have to make a loud public fight about it in the Legislature.
Right now he's pushing to get some kind of healthcare reform through the Legislature and DADT is lower on his list of priorities than the other hand-grenades he's juggling right now. For many people affected by it DADT is the most important thing in the world, but it's personal and as President he's got other things to do first. Worst case he pulls a repeal of DADT out of the hat as an Executive order but doing it that way means he will be attacked for doing so. Signing off on a piece of legislation that enshrines the right of gays, TS and others to serve in the armed forces as Federal law is a much more powerful statement.
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Right now he's pushing to get some kind of healthcare reform through the Legislature and DADT is lower on his list of priorities than the other hand-grenades he's juggling right now. For many people affected by it DADT is the most important thing in the world, but it's personal and as President he's got other things to do first. Worst case he pulls a repeal of DADT out of the hat as an Executive order but doing it that way means he will be attacked for doing so. Signing off on a piece of legislation that enshrines the right of gays, TS and others to serve in the armed forces as Federal law is a much more powerful statement.