A funny thing happened when President Obama hit the “pause” button on Syria action: Lawmakers continued to make their position known – and they’re still moving in only one direction.
Opposition to strikes against Syria has only grown in Congress since the president made his case to the nation – a case, of course, that includes the military option if the diplomatic option fails. That’s playing out now, but just in case the newest New York Times op-ed contributor [Vladimir Putin] doesn’t come through for the United States government, the president is going to be back where he started at some point on Capitol Hill. Actually, he’ll be in a worse position than before, with the White House able to keep fewer lawmakers on the fence. That’s one measure of the depth of public sentiment on Syria: Members of Congress are taking stands even though the president is explicitly asking them not to.
THE SYRIA SCOREBOARD by the ABC News Political Unit:
THE SENATE: http://abcn.ws/18rMbwx
| TOTAL | GOP | DEM | IND | |||||
| SUPPORT MILITARY ACTION | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0 | ||||
| LIKELY SUPPORT | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 24 | 7 | 17 | 0 | |||||
| OPPOSE MILITARY ACTION | 34 | 26 | 8 | 0 | ||||
| LIKELY OPPOSE | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 39 | 29 | 9 | 1 | |||||
| UNDECIDED | 37 | 10 | 26 | 1 | ||||
| UNKNOWN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 37 | 10 | 26 | 1 | |||||
| TOTAL | 100 | 46 | 52 | 2 |
THE HOUSE: http://abcn.ws/1a99GwE
| TOTAL | GOP | DEM | ||||
| SUPPORT MILITARY ACTION | 21 | 7 | 14 | |||
| LIKELY SUPPORT | 23 | 3 | 20 | |||
| 44 | 10 | 34 | ||||
| OPPOSE MILITARY ACTION | 138 | 115 | 23 | |||
| LIKELY OPPOSE | 124 | 82 | 42 | |||
| 262 | 197 | 65 | ||||
| UNDECIDED | 116 | 21 | 95 | |||
| UNKNOWN | 11 | 5 | 6 | |||
| 127 | 26 | 101 | ||||
| TOTAL | 433 | 233 | 200 |