With the prospect of more beheading videos out of the Middle-east and the Obama administration now taking action against ISIS in Syria, foreign policy is likely to take an increasingly significant role in this year’s Mid-term elections.
In fact, recent polls have already pointed to that being the case, no doubt partly forcing Obama’s hand to act, however indecisively.
The National Republican Congressional Committee has already begun airing ads against three Democratic incumbents and a top-tier challenger that explicitly question their commitment to keeping the country safe. Scott Brown, the former Massachusetts senator now taking on Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen in New Hampshire, released an ad today seizing on the issue.
“President Obama and Senator Shaheen seem confused about the nature of the threat,” Brown says. “I’m not.”
With a promise of no U.S. boots on the ground, the direct impact of the mission remains remote for most Americans. And politics in the midst of U.S. military action may come across as unseemly. But 42 days away from an election, the candidate considerations are real.
What remains to be seen is if Obama and his fellow Democrats can increase voters’ perceptions of them on national security issues. For now, they’ve been trailing Republicans badly in polling on that aspect of American policy.
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