Daniel Larison at the American Conservative explains that Senator Rand Paul is the only Republican voting with the majority of America on the issue of intervention in Syria.
Consider the question of intervention in Syria. Like every other polling organization before it, Gallup finds that the public is overwhelmingly opposed to U.S. military action in Syria. 68% oppose such action, and only 24% support it. Even among Republicans, support for military action is an anemic 31%. When the Menendez-Corker bill approving funding for arming the Syrian opposition came up for a vote in committee earlier this month, Paul was the only Republican to vote against the bill, and to date he has been the only member of his party in the Senate to reject any greater U.S. involvement in the conflict. At the moment, he appears to be the only Republican in the Senate taking the side in the Syria debate that is favored by the vast majority of Americans and most Republicans. He is betting that his dissents from the party’s reflexive hawkishness are some of what will appeal to most Americans, and that “muscular positions” on foreign policy are exactly what most of us want Republican politicians to abandon.
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