Lady Gaga wants Snowe’s vote

Pop star Lady Gaga announced Sunday on Twitter that she will hold a rally Monday in Maine to pressure that state's moderate Republican senators, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, to repeal the military's ban on openly gay service.

The singer -- who claims the largest Twitter following in the world -- threw her support behind the repeal at last week's MTV Video Music Awards. Gaga's appeal prompted a slew of online videos of young people calling their senators to ask them to repeal the policy, and a huge surge in Web traffic for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which opposes "don't ask, don't tell" and is sponsoring the rally.

"I am here to be a voice for my generation -- not the generation of the senators who are voting, but for the youth of this country, the generation that is affected by this law and whose children will be affected," Gaga said in a video message to fans.

Neither Collins nor Snowe has said how she intends to vote, though Collins, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, has already voted for that panel's version of the defense reauthorization bill with the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" attached.

Some Republicans may vote against the Democratic motion to invoke cloture -- the parliamentary procedure that would limit debate and forestall a GOP filibuster -- on the defense reauthorization bill. Republican leaders in Congress are decrying Sen. Harry Reid's plan to tack on an immigration amendment, known as the DREAM Act, while not allowing Republican amendments. (Democrats have only about 40 yes votes for the DREAM Act, according to the Hill newspaper.) Collins said she "would like the Senate to proceed to a full and open debate on the defense authorization bill, with members able to offer other amendments on all relevant issues."

Gaga's rally is to be held in a few hours, at 4 p.m. Eastern at Deering Oaks Park in Portland.

(Photo: Gaga/AP)