Mediaboss Marketing

President Obama and his advisors appear to have convinced Americans that the Islamic State militants wreaking havoc in Iraq and Syria are a threat to the U.S. This week he'll try to prove he's capable of taking them on.

In laying out a plan to use U.S. air power, multinational partners and proxy fighters to "ultimately destroy" the Al Qaeda offshoot, Obama appears to have landed in a rare moment of bipartisan backing. Polls released over the weekend show that sizable majorities of both Republicans and Democrats support Obama's tactics.

But the support hasn't immediately translated into a clear political boost for the president or a surge of congressional support for him. In one survey, most Americans said they have little confidence that the plan will succeed and added that his remarks didn't change their opinion of Obama.

The skepticism reflects the months of sagging public confidence in the president, particularly when it comes to foreign affairs. A summer of crises in Ukraine, the Gaza Strip and Iraq and Syria has sunk Obama's approval rating to near lows in some polls. Both friend and foe have criticized the president for his seeming indecisiveness or tentative reaction to global trouble. Democrats running in tight races have kept a safe distance.

The doubts have been clear in Congress, where GOP lawmakers grappled Monday with how to support a strategy from a president they say they do not trust. Meanwhile, administration officials tried to persuade foreign leaders to go all in.

At a conference in Paris on Monday, key players Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates agreed to support the Iraqi government in its fight against Islamic State "by any means necessary, including appropriate military assistance." But the statement made no reference to taking the fight to Syria, the extremist group's stronghold.

Pentagon officials announced Monday that the U.S. had expanded the fight on its own, with airstrikes launched southwest of Baghdad that destroyed an Islamic State fighting position firing on Iraqi government forces. The attack was the first to be conducted as part of the expanded mission announced by Obama last week to help Iraqi troops mount a vigorous new offense against the militant group.

On the diplomatic front, the White House has scheduled a week of events that could burnish the president's image as commander in chief and demonstrate his willingness to use military might.

Obama is slated Wednesday to visit U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Fla., to huddle with advisors planning newly expanded military operations in Iraq and Syria. The visit will focus in part on how to manage the emerging coalition of allies, senior administration officials said Monday. The president is also expected to address troops at the base.

The visit will follow a similar briefing Tuesday at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, where he'll outline a new effort to use U.S. military resources to fight the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

The rest is here:
Obama has bipartisan support against Islamic State, still faces doubts