Longtime Democratic pollster and strategist Pat Caddell says the American people don’t want the Iran deal the Obama administration is pursuing and he says America is on the brink of a major mistake because Obama and his allies are more focused on his legacy than national security.
Caddell, who rose to prominence for his key role in helping Jimmy Carter win the White House in 1976, is now a frequent thorn in the side of his party for criticizing the Democratic left farther and farther to the left. He recently helped to conduct a bipartisan poll for Secure America Now. The finding show the American people overwhelmingly concerned about a nuclear Iran and the deal being negotiated.
Sixty-eight percent of Americans believe Iran will give nuclear weapons to terrorists if it can develop them. Eighty percent believe Iranian nukes will set off a Middle East arms race. 70 percent believe Iran would use nukes against U.S. forces in the region, and 79 percent believe Iran having the bomb will mean their children will be threatened with nuclear war in the years ahead.
Caddell says 80 percent of respondents also believe the deal being hammered out in Vienna would only “kick the can down the road.” He says the American people make two things perfectly clear. The first is that they want the Iran program entirely scrapped.
“When you go through some of the specifics of what we know was being discussed, the American people start with the idea that if [the Iranians are] going to be allowed to keep the nuclear infrastructure, then they’re not in favor of it,” said Caddell.
He also says the public knows what needs to happen to remove the threat.
“They would have to discontinue or deconstruct their nuclear program, not maintain it, and that they would have to allow inspections without any reservation and also get rid of the excess uranium they have. People think that’s the base of a deal that would work,” said Caddell.
Those terms are a long way from the reports of what a final deal would likely include. Caddell says a major reason is because Obama and other Democrats are too eager to get something done.
“There was a phone call reported by the [Associated Press] the other day, held by several White House aides and (Illinois Rep.) Jan Schakowsky’s husband, Mr. (Robert) Creamer and a bunch of very partisan Democrats, talking about how important this was to his legacy,” said Caddell, who is infuriated by the political focus on such a key issue.
“This isn’t about his legacy. This is about our lives. The problem is we’re going into this negotiation wanting three things. The president wants a deal for his legacy. (Secretary of State) John Kerry wants a Nobel prize. The Iranians want a nuclear weapon. And they all get what they want,” he said.
Caddell is mystified by another part of the negotiations as well.
“Wendy Sherman, the undersecretary of state for this, is the same woman who negotiated the deal with North Korea,” he said. “The same person who did the North Korean deal is amazingly now doing this deal with Iran.”
“That is scary. That really bothers me. You shouldn’t be rewarded for your incompetence by being allowed to perform the same act with an even more dangerous player,” said Caddell.
Caddell is concerned that a nuclear Iran could turn the 2016 campaign into a referendum on national security. He fears Obama can find enough Democrats to ratify a bad deal thanks to the Corker-Cardin plan, which gives Congress a say on the Iran deal, but allows Obama to veto the rejection of lawmakers.
He says the Democratic nervousness runs deep.
“There is a lot of consternation in the foreign policy community among Democrats and concern about this deal,” he said.
Caddell says the bipartisan poll shows lopsided concerns on both sides of the aisle and Obama and other Democrats ignore it at their peril.
“I’m going to make sure Democrats understand how our voters feel about these issues as opposed to what the president is claiming. This is not about politics. This is one of the most important issues of my lifetime, maybe the most important,” he said.