One of the explanations most often cited for President Obama’s maddeningly tentative approach to Syria — for his initial reluctance to get involved, his decision to seek congressional cover, and for the probability that a strike, if ever it comes, will be limited in scope — is the opposition of […] Read more »
Obama may want Americans to support strikes on Syria, but can he do anything about it?
Presidential persuasion is way overrated. … Obama, who stunningly reversed course earlier this month in deciding to put the resolution up for congressional approval, is doing everything within his power to bend the country to his will. But the truth — both of his term and of the modern presidency […] Read more »
Obama’s push for a Syria strike depends on many factors other than presidential eloquence
The story line for this coming week is set: President Obama, facing a critical test of strength, will go before the nation to try to rally public opinion and persuade a reluctant Congress to give him the authority to launch military strikes against Syria. … But this narrative, of a […] Read more »
Nothing New About Partisan Votes On Military Action
With so many Republicans apparently committed to voting against a military strike against Syria, the Obama Administration will be forced to rely on Democrats, including liberals, to win the vote in Congress. From an ideological perspective it looks odd, but members of Congress lining up to support the president of […] Read more »
Bad Bet: Why Republicans Can’t Win With Whites Alone
This much is undisputed: In 2012, President Obama lost white voters by a larger margin than any winning presidential candidate in U.S. history. In his reelection, Obama lost ground from 2008 with almost every conceivable segment of the white electorate. With several key groups of whites, he recorded the weakest […] Read more »
The Era of Disbelief
This is a particularly bad time to sell the American people a war, and make no mistake: we are being sold, and this “military action,” in another time and place — and in some quarters, here and now — would be called an act of war. Americans are not only […] Read more »