The Black Congressional Caucus has reportedly advised its members not to express their opinion in public after one lawmaker spoke of how 97% of his constituents were against the war.
WASHINGTON/ST PETERSBURG: Domestic opposition to the Obama administration's proposal for punitive strike against Syria for alleged use of chemical weapons is growing stronger, leaving the US President Barack Obama with unhappy prospect of having to defy Congress and public opinion to carry through his threat.
Obama danced around questions in St Peterburg on whether he would push forward with the military strikes if lawmakers don't back him amid growing signs that the Republican-controlled US House of Representatives will vote against the move. It turns out that even his own party men are having serious reservations.
The Black Congressional Caucus has reportedly advised its members not to express their opinion in public after one lawmaker spoke of how 97% of his constituents were against the war. Obama needs to convince my voters before I can vote for him, the Congressman Elijah Cummings told a radio station.
"We are in a situation where, first of all, 95 — probably 97% — of everybody who calls my office and emails my office — and this, by the way, I come from a district which was about 85% for Obama - (is) saying 'no'. And walking in here today to my office, I had a nurse ... at Johns Hopkins who's been there for 17 years, begged me not to vote for this bill," Cummings said, reflecting the broad sentiment across the country.
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday, just 19% of those surveyed supported intervention in Syria, compared with 56% who said the US should not intervene. Things are slightly more favourable in the Democrat-controlled Senate. But even in the Senate, Ed Markey, a liberal lawmaker who is otherwise a staunch Obama supporter, chose to vote "Present" (not yes or no) on the issue of strikes
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