Obama's Foreign Policy Approval Plummets, Americans Oppose Unilateral Syria Intervention

"Only a third of Americans think that President Obama has handled foreign policy better than his predecessor, George W. Bush," says Emily Ekins, Reason Foundation's Director of Polling.

This is but one startling and illuminating finding in the latest Reason-Rupe poll. Ekins sat down with Reason TV's Zach Weissmueller to discuss the polling results she found when surveying respondents about the possibility of U.S. military intervention in Syria.

The Obama administration has faced an uphill battle selling the intervention to the American public, especially in the wake of the British parliament's "no" vote on military action. An overwhelming 75 percent of respondents answered that it would be "unwise" for the U.S. to intervene in Syria without support from Great Britain or the United Nations.

And while pundits and Obama administration officials have tried convincing the public that intervention is necessary for the U.S. to maintain credibility after reports of Assad crossing the chemical weapons "red line," Americans aren't buying that argument either, as 65 percent of poll respondents answered that military intervention was "unnecessary" to protect American credibility and national security.

The only credibility at risk here appears to be that of President Obama, who has enjoyed above-average foreign policy approval ratings until now. The Reason-Rupe poll reveals that 58 percent of respondents disapprove of the president's foreign policy, and only 33 percent of people believe that President Obama has been better at handling foreign policy than former President George W. Bush.

"Syria has hurt people's perception of the President's handling of foreign policy," says Ekins. "Our poll shows that people are disappointed in the President."

For full poll results, check out reason.com/poll.

Approximately 3 minutes long.

Produced by Zach Weissmueller. Camera by Sharif Matar and Tracy Oppenheimer.

Downloadable versions of the video can be found at: http://reason.com/reasontv/2013/09/10/americans-oppose-unilateral-syria-interv . Subscribe to Reason TV's YouTube page to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.