WASHINGTON - Democrats are preparing next year to lift the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on open gays in the military, an uneasy culture-war compromise instituted under the last Democratic administration, should Sen. Barack Obama win the presidency.

Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., said a hearing Wednesday by a House Armed Services subcommittee was aimed at educating Congress and the public in preparation for a full-scale push to end the policy in the next Congress. By then, Democrats expect to have won the White House and to have expanded their House and Senate majorities.

Tauscher introduced the Military Readiness Enhancement Act in 2006. It would repeal the ban and allow gays to serve openly in the military. But Democrats have not moved it forward under President Bush because they are certain of his veto.

Obama supports repeal.

Should Republican Sen. John McCain, who opposes repeal, become president, Tauscher said Democrats might force the issue.

Polls show solid public support for lifting the ban, which passed its 15-year anniversary July 19. An ABC News/Washington Post poll shows that 75 percent favor repeal, a number that has climbed steadily since the start of the Iraq war.

Still, many Democrats are wary.

"Politicians are well known for not wanting to take a position until they have to," Tauscher said. "But I'm confident that under the right political environment, with the right president … we'll have all conditions that will be right for us to pass the repeal and have the president sign it."

Memories of how the issue consumed the first months of Bill Clinton's presidency remain seared in many minds on Capitol Hill. Having faced campaign accusations of draft dodging and Pentagon skepticism about his suitability as commander in chief, Clinton was hit by an intense backlash when he inadvertently made ending the military's outright ban on homosexuals one of his first projects upon taking office.

The uproar led to the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" compromise between then-chairman of Senate Armed Services Committee, Sam Nunn, D-Ga., former Joint Chiefs Chairman Colin Powell and Clinton. It allowed men and women to serve in the military without being asked about their homosexuality, so long as they kept it secret.

Unlike the earlier ban that was formalized as a service-wide policy during World War II, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was enacted into law, requiring that any changes be made by Congress.

Since 1994, 12,342 service men and women have been discharged, according to Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a gay rights group. Discharges peaked at 1,273 in 2001, then dropped by about half after the terrorist attacks of 2001.

Of all gay rights issues, lifting the military ban receives among the widest public support. Public opinion has nearly reversed since 1993, when only 44 percent believed homosexuals should serve.

Large majorities of active-duty military, however, oppose repeal, according to a survey by Military Times, which found 31 percent supporting repeal and 57 percent opposed.

"Public opinion in favor of allowing gays to serve in the military has risen steadily in the Bush years, in part because people feel in times of war anyone who wants to serve ought to be able to serve," said Nathaniel Persily, a legal policy expert at Columbia University who follows gay issues.

At the same time, he said, "opposition to expansion of gay rights is often more intense than is support. That's true of same-sex marriage, where most proponents are tepidly in favor, while those who oppose it strongly oppose."

The Pentagon itself is deferring to Congress.

Retired officers have been more outspoken, including Gen. John Shalikashvili, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who reversed himself to support repeal last year. More than 50 high-ranking retired officers have signed a statement urging that the ban be lifted. Former Sen. Sam Nunn said last month that he was open to revisiting it.

E-mail Carolyn Lochhead at clochhead(at)sfchronicle.com. For more stories visit scrippsnews.com