WaPo Whip Count: The “no’s” keep piling up on Syria resolution in the House [View all]

[cali]

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Over the last two days, scores of members — most of them Republicans, but many of them Democrats — have expressed their opposition to the use of force in Syria.

According to The Fix’s handy-dandy whip count, the ranks of the opposition more than doubled from 34 on Tuesday morning to 86 by Thursday morning.

Over that same span, the number of House members supporting the use of force increased by a whopping two, from 17 to 19.

You heard that right: There are now more than four times as many opponents of military action in the House as supporters.

And that doesn’t even factor in the dozens of members who have expressed skepticism about Syria. According to The Fix’s latest numbers, 92 representatives have expressed hesitation but not complete opposition.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/09/05/prospects-for-syria-resolution-dimming-in-house/

I think there's a reluctance on the part of democrats to do anything that they think would weaken President Obama and voting this down would certainly do that. On the other hand, for a whole slew of reasons, many reps are just as reluctant to vote yes. Attacking Syria remains deeply unpopular and bite them in their asses in next years elections is certainly a motivating factor.