Is President Barack Obama’s attempt to get Congress to authorize a limited missle strike on Syria doomed to defeat? According to a report in The Huffington Post, it is most assuredly heading that way:
This sucker could go down. And unlike the Wall Street bailout, there is unlikely to be a do-over.
A resolution authorizing military force against Syria barely made it out of the hawkish Senate Foreign Relations Committee — with the majority of Republicans opposing it — and now is facing withering skepticism in Congress. While the Senate appears poised to come to some type of agreement, the “People’s House,” as it is known, is showing much more reluctance to approve the deeply unpopular bombing resolution. “Peace may well have a chance,” said one top House GOP aide.
Public opinion surveys have been reflected in the outpouring of calls, emails and letters that have flooded House offices, running, say lawmakers, at more than 9 to 1 against intervention. The opposition spans the political spectrum.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) said on Twitter that his delegation is unpersuaded and that public reaction has been fiercely opposed. Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), who represents the libertarian opposition within the GOP, said that he’s also seeing intense disapproval.
Discomfort with the war resolution is not just Republican. “Members on both sides [are] undecided, with most (not all) I’ve talked to feeling extremely uneasy and uncomfortable with this resolution,” said one Democratic member. “I think if it went down today, it wouldn’t pass the House. People though are truly undecided with concerns in a bipartisan way. The real question is if those who feel uncomfortable with this can be made to be comfortable with a resolution that has a much narrower scope.”
The bottom line: many members of Congress face political judgment day in November. And they’re getting a clear message from constituents.
Think Progress:
As members of Congress consider President Obama’s request to authorize military force in Syria, following evidence that President Bashar Assad’s use of chemical weapons killed over 1,400 people, a ThinkProgress analysis of the public statements of 400 Representatives found that 199 lawmakers have either decisively ruled out supporting the measure or say they are unlikely to back it. Just 49 of the 400 members of the House of Representatives said they will definitely or likely vote in favor or the resolution.
A vote in the House is not expected until next week at the earliest. 152 members have publicly said they are undecided and the positions of 33 members are unknown. All told, 330 members either have not decided, or indicated they are willing to consider changing their position.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.