Americans Vastly Against Any Syria Action

Poll: Most want Congress to rebuff Obama on Syria

By Rebecca Shabad - 09/09/13 10:17 AM ET

  

More than two-thirds of people in the United States want Congress to reject military action against Syria, according to a new poll.

While CNN/ORC International found that 80 percent of people believe Syrian President Bashar Assad gassed his own people, about 70 percent say a strike would not achieve U.S. goals or serve the national interest.

And even if Congress were to give President Obama the green light to launch an attack, 55 percent of Americans would still oppose it.

“Congressional approval would help Obama a little, but a majority would still oppose airstrikes against military targets in Syria,” said Keating Holland, CNN’s polling director.  

With approval from Congress, 51 percent of Democrats and 47 percent of Republicans would favor military action, the CNN poll found.

Most of the 1,022 people surveyed said their votes in future elections would not be influenced by their congressional representative’s stance on the resolution.

But by a 3-1 ratio, people who said it would influence their votes said they’d be more likely to vote against lawmakers who support strikes.

Several polls last week also found most Americans oppose intervention. Gallup found that 51 percent opposed a strike, and 13 percent were undecided. A Washington Post/ABC News poll found 59 percent opposed a strike. And Pew’s survey showed 48 percent disapproved.

Many lawmakers who have come out against attacking Syria have said they are being overwhelmed with calls from constituents who want them to vote “no.”

The Senate is likely to hold a procedural vote on Wednesday to move toward a final vote on Syria strikes, perhaps by the end of the week.

The House’s schedule is unclear. The lower chamber may vote late this week or sometime next week.