What Happens if Obama Loses the Vote on Syria?

First Read: “If the Obama administration loses, many might not realize the
full-fledged political crisis the president will face. His congressional
opposition will be more emboldened, if that was possible. (Any
advantage the Democrats hold in the upcoming fiscal fights ahead could
quickly disappear.) A year before the 2014 midterms, Democrats will
start hitting the panic button with a wounded Democratic president in
office. (If you’ve paid attention to politics over the past two decades,
when the going gets tough, Democrats often jump ship.) And any
lame-duck status for Obama would be expedited. (After all, a “no” vote
by Congress would rebuke the nation’s commander-in-chief.)”

“Up until now,
the first nine months of Obama’s second term have been, well, a
disappointment. Gun control was stopped in the Senate; immigration
reform is stalled in the House; no progress has been achieved in the
budget talks. So if you throw in Congress rebuking the president from
taking military action in Syria — something he has said is necessary —
that would be a huge political blow to Obama’s political standing.”

Foreign Policy: “It’s not easy to get yourself into the kind of predicament that
the president of the United States finds himself in today.”