WASHINGTON POST: A Pentagon study group is preparing a report due Dec. 1 to Obama that found a majority of respondents to a survey sent to active-duty and reserve troops during the summer said the effect of lifting the gay ban would be positive, mixed or nonexistent, according to two sources familiar with the report who shared details last week with The Washington Post. McCain (Ariz.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Sunday that he did not think the Senate should lift the ban during the lame-duck session that begins this week. “Once we get this study, we need to have hearings. And we need to examine it. And we need to look at whether it’s the kind of study that we wanted,” McCain said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” McCain, who had previously signaled a willingness to support the will of troops, also has mounted an effort to strip the repeal provision from the defense authorization bill that sets Pentagon policy. The senator has said he wants it cut to ensure quick passage of the bill, according to his aides. MORE