++Since Washington is all about declaring winners and losers without regard to implication for the issue, President Obama is placing a high stakes gamble he will win the Congressional vote. As lopsided as the House whip news is in the AP,he still stands a chance to win the Senate, even with Rand Paul's filibuster.
++Already people are writing him off as a lame-duck President for his second term if he loses. As I have written before,he only has to have one last accomplishment--the immigration reform bill--to make his second term a success. If he wins the vote,it will come against the popular disapproval against the war in Syria. For Republicans,they believe they will have made President Obama ineffectual either way. If he does take military action with congressional approval, they will criticize him unmercifully like in Libya and disappear behind the curtains if he succeeds. If he moves without congressional approval--even with no boots on the ground, the House will start impeachment proceedings against him. Just for a little history, Ronald Reagan was so worried about the possibility of impeachment after Grenada, he called a Supreme Court judge to test the waters. He was told it was so short an operation, he needn't worry. But with the Republican intense hatred of Obama, they would not hesitate.
++In any case, the intense narcissism of America has to be appreciated. Congress can reject the President without any consideration there is a wider world out there or that there are no consequences for doing nothing. If this happens, President Obama should not do a 2010 where he reacted in a lackluster manner. He should immediately announce what he intends to do without overt military actions and summon the international community to handle the humanitarian crisis and put a dollar amount to his proposal and demand another vote. Congress would be very hard-pressed to turn him down and he would smoke out the Republican isolationists on this one.
++There are different ways to consider credibility and to enhance it even if you are deprived what you want.He would be doing a lot of good if forces around the world realized they should not be dependent on the United States' military might. "Soft power" can be muscular and send the appropriate message that Assad's antics aren't tolerable.
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