Sargent does some reporting:
Some aides ... want Reid to indicate that the DADT vote will happen before New START. If the Senate takes up New START first, it could take days, and once it passes, Senators may start going home before DADT is repealed. By contrast, if the Senate does DADT first, it will take far less time, and it won't put New START at risk, because no Senator is going to leave before that's done. Aides, however, signal that this is not likely to happen, because the White House badly wants START done. All indications are that Reid genuinely wants repeal to happen. Indeed, aides say he is the one who asked House Dems to hold their own vote, to make it easier for the Senate to move. But repeal's odds would be greatly improved if Reid would indicate right now that a vote is definitely going to happen.
And this is something for which Obama is responsible and should be held to account for if repeal fails.