A majority of Americans, unconvinced by President Obama’s case for military intervention in Syria, now believe Obama’s foreign policy has been the same as or worse than that of his predecessor, President Bush.
A Reason-Rupe poll found that 64 percent of Americans–including 68 percent of independents and 41 percent of Democrats–answered “worse” or “about the same” when asked what they thought of Obama’s handling of foreign policy when compared with Bush.
That view is a stark indictment of the president, who campaigned heavily on the idea that he would move the country away from Bush’s interventionist policies, which were extremely unpopular by the time he left office.
Due to uneven portrayals of the presidents in the media, it is surprising that Americans take such a similar view of them, wrote Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit.
“Bush’s image is filtered through a decade of nonstop media negativity; Obama’s through nearly a decade of nonstop media promotion,” wrote Reynolds. “And yet Obama only scores ‘Same or Worse.’”
Polling director Emily Ekins noted that Obama famously said that he doesn’t oppose all wars, just dumb wars. But unfortunately for the president, a majority of Americans believe Obama’s own proposal for war in Syria is dumb, according to the poll.
“Nearly two-thirds, 64 percent, of Americans say striking Syria is not necessary to protect America’s credibility and national security, while 26 percent say a strike is necessary,” wrote Ekins.
The Obama administration has urged Congress to approve a limited strike against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, who are accused of using chemical weapons against the Syrian people. Whether such a measure would pass the House of Representatives is currently in doubt. Obama is also considering a Russian-proposed solution that would require Assad to voluntarily give up his chemical weapons. (RELATED: Boehner skeptical of diplomatic talks with Russia on Syria)
The president will address the nation on Tuesday at 9 p.m. (RELATED: Rand Paul to deliver response to Obama’s Syria speech)