In spite of the desperate fear-mongering by Republicans, Americans stand With Obama on Iran deal.
Republicans are on the losing end of things in a new survey which shows that a majority of Americans stands with President Obama on the Iran deal. They want Congress to support the deal.
Not only do 55% of Americans surveyed by the University of Maryland think Congress should support the Iran deal, but here’s the kicker. A whopping 61% of Independents want Congress to uphold the deal. Seventy-two percent of Democrats want it upheld. And just 33% of Republicans want it upheld.
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Graphic from the University of Maryland survey
From the poll, “Panelists were finally asked whether they would recommend that their Members of Congress approve of the deal. Those that did not recommend approval were offered other options. Ultimately 55% recommended approval, including 72% of Democrats, 61% of Independents and 33% of Republicans. Twenty-three percent recommended ramping up sanctions, 14% seeking to renegotiate the deal, and 7% using military threats.”
This survey was particularly interesting because their methods are different than just polling random people. They went through an entire process of educating the people surveyed, presenting the agreement, criticisms of the agreement and rebuttals to the criticism. In fact, the survey compared the responses from the first poll to the last and it turns out information was helpful. The more information they had, the more they supported the deal. Even Republicans. The more information they get, the more they disapprove of the Republican position:
Asked to reassess Congress disapproving of the deal, the mean score moved down, from 5.6 to 5.1, with the percentage finding it tolerable dropping from 59% to 58% (those saying “acceptable” dropped from 47% to 42%). Republicans’ mean moved down from 7.6 to 7.0, with those finding it tolerable dropping from 83% to 79% and Democrats down from 3.9 to 3.5, with the percentage regarding it as at least tolerable dropping from 40% to 38%. Among Republicans, fewer found disapproval acceptable (71 down to 63%).
So given the facts on the deal, a majority stand with the President. This is not to say that people don’t have concerns, just as the people who negotiated the deal have concerns. Opting for the best deal possible doesn’t mean it’s going to work. It means the international community found it to be the best possible deal.
One of President Obama’s ongoing strengths has been his measured, pragmatic, diplomacy-first but strike to kill (Osama bin Laden) if necessary approach to foreign policy. A majority of the public stands with the President and the Democratic supporters of the deal, including Independent voters.
This poll is part of the University of Maryland’s nonpartisan National Citizen Cabinet and it was conducted by the program for public consultation.
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