Day: June 17, 2013

Obama Syria Decision the Worst for America

Buck Banks

Well, we don’t yet quite know what’s in the works – but once you start arming one side of a civil war, you become part of that civil war; the other side may target you; and as this sectarian conflict deepens across the region, the US will be seen as a Sunni power fighting Shiites. I cannot think of a worse policy position for this country – to take stand on the sectarian fault-line of the Muslim world and back one side over another. You think the other side won’t notice? You think Americans wouldn’t be targeted for this kind of meddling? Let Putin get bogged down in this hell, if he remains so 19th Century he feels he must. But we should have zero interest in that ancient religious dispute; zero.

— Andrew Sullivan, writing in The Dish.

Graham: GOP In a Death Spiral

Buck Banks

If we don’t pass immigration reform, if we don’t get it off the table in a reasonable, practical way, it doesn’t matter who you run in 2016. We’re in a demographic death spiral as a party and the only way we can get back in good graces with the Hispanic community in my view is pass comprehensive immigration reform. If you don’t do that, it really doesn’t matter who we run in my view.

— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who helped write a bipartisan immigration bill under debate in the Senate, said “conservatives who are trying to block the measure will doom the party and all but guarantee a Democrat will remain in the White House after 2016’s election,” the AP reports.

Obama’s Approval Is Dropping

Buck Banks

8 percentage points

Amount President Obama’s approval rating has dropped over the past month, to 45%, the president’s lowest rating in more than a year and a half, according to a new CNN/ORC poll. Said pollster Keating Holland: “The drop in Obama’s support is fueled by a dramatic 17-point decline over the past month among people under 30, who, along with black Americans, had been the most loyal part of the Obama coalition.”