Nearly two-thirds of Virginia voters support a negotiated settlement to end the nuclear stalemate with Iran, though there are indications that voters are also ambivalent about whether or not such a deal will work in the long run.
This is from a Quinnipiac poll conducted March 29-April 7 and released on Monday.
Sixty-four percent of Virginia voters surveyed support a negotiated settlement in which the West would lift some of their economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for Iran restricting its nuclear program in a way that would make it harder for the country to produce nuclear weapons.
A bigger number, 76 percent, prefer negotiations to military intervention to curb the Iranian threat, but a 61-28 majority believes that Iran is not capable of negotiating in good faith.
Voters also feel that the letter from a group of Republican U.S. senators to Iran throwing cold water on the negotiations was inappropriate, by a 57-38 margin. But at the same time, a 61-31 majority feels that any deal with Iran should be subject to congressional approval.
“By almost 5-1, voters prefer a diplomatic solution. Those numbers indicate support for President Barack Obama’s efforts to sell the deal,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac poll. “Yet almost two-thirds say that Congress must have the opportunity to approve or reject the deal, a position the president has yet to embrace.”
It’s a mixed message, to say the least, which “could translate into public skepticism about the agreement,” Brown said.
“And President Obama’s low job approval ratings raise the question of his ability to convince the public – and Congress – to see things his way,” Brown said.
Forty-five percent of Virginia voters polled said they approve of the job that Obama is doing as president, with 53 percent saying they disapprove.
– Story by Chris Graham
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