CNN: Obama's Iran deal continues to look safe, despite opposition
(CNN)As President Barack Obama vacations in Martha's Vineyard, the fate of his legacy-sealing Iran nuclear deal may be on the line in Israel, where a large contingent of House Democrats wrapped up a weeklong trip of meetings on Monday with officials strongly opposed to the deal.
Still, the relaxing president might be breathing slightly easier knowing the accord still seems to be safe in Washington.
Despite high-profile opposition to his landmark accord negotiated with the extreme Middle Eastern regime, including Senate No. 3 Democrat Chuck Schumer, supporters of the deal on the Hill and in the White House remain confident lawmakers will have enough votes to sustain a presidential veto on any legislation opposing the deal.
WNU Editor: President Obama responded to his Iran critics today via through NPR .... 'Ideological' Or 'Illogical': President Obama Responds To Iran Deal Critics (NPR) .... and through the youth-oriented news site Mic.com .... Obama: The Iran Deal (Mic.com). President Obama will have his deal, but most Americans remain convinced that the Iranians got the better of him in these talks .... Poll: Americans Distrust Iran, Believe It Got More Out Of Nuke Deal Than U.S. (The Tower).
Update #1: Obama Says GOP Opposing Iran Deal Over Politics, Not Merits -- NYT/AP
Update #2: Obama: Critics of Iran deal have 'legitimate concerns' -- USA Today
2 comments:
Conventional wisdom holds that the Iran deal will survive. I am not so sure, for several reasons:
1. On the merits, the deal is very, very weak. Iran got almost all of what it wanted, whilst the United States got very little. The sanctions relief will be real and immediate, as will the money Iran will receive. The restraints on Iran's nuclear development are vague and weak, and the verification terms even weaker, dependent on Russian and Chinese cooperation. In other words, what we got is inchoate, conditional, and eventual.
2. The American people seem to realize how poor the terms of the deal are, notwithstanding Obama's full court press and support from his Amen chorus in the media. I understand that polls show majorities of the American public now opposing the deal. Congress will take note.
3. Obama and Kerry both present the choice facing the Congress as (a) approving the deal, or (b) war with Iran. That is a false choice, and I think more and more people see its falsity.
4. President Obama continues his usual pattern of claiming that anyone who opposes whatever he wants acts from low, base, dishonorable motives. In Obama's view, one cannot have a principled, good faith disagreement with him. Six years into Obama's Administration, that complaint is getting old, and I think the Congress (both parties) are getting restive and less cowed by it. Democrats felt the sting of Obama's charges of low betrayal on the trade deal, and have thus already defied him without punishment from the voters, in part because
5. Obama is a lame duck, whose political sway ebbs a bit each and every day.
6. At a minimum, clear majorities of both chambers of Congress will vote against the deal. Even if Obama manages to scrape together 1/3 of one chamber to sustain his veto, the deal's repudiation ensures that the deal rests upon the weakest possible political basis: the support of this president alone. I guarantee that the deal will be an issue in the 2016 elections. Unlike Obama, most Democrats in Congress will face the voters in 2016. I am not certain at all that they will tow the line on this issue.
I could not have said it any better Publius.
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