'It shouldn’t be about supporting the president,' Israel said. Israel: GOP hypocrisy 'amazes me'

A top House Democrat on Tuesday accused Republicans of playing politics with the Syria debate.

“What has fascinated me more than anything is this,” said Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel (D-N.Y.). “Does anyone truly believe that if Mitt Romney had been elected president and had asked House Republicans for exactly what President Obama is asking, that House Republicans would oppose it to the extent that they’re opposed to what President Obama wants? The level of hypocrisy is what amazes me.”


“Let’s not be fooled. I don’t know of any credible analyst who believes that if Mitt Romney had been elected president and produced this same exact resolution that you would see the whip counts in the Republican caucus that you see today,” he added.

( PHOTOS: What lawmakers said then (Iraq) and now (Syria))

Israel’s remarks, made at a breakfast meeting with reporters sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor, came as Obama is set to address the nation from the White House at 9 p.m. EDT to discuss the Syria crisis. House Republican leaders have come out in support of the president’s request for authorization to launch punitive air strikes, but the GOP rank-and-file is heavily opposed.

A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) declined to respond.

With many Democrats also coming out against a strike, Israel said loyalty to Obama — or fear of crossing him — was not a factor in their decision-making.

“At the end of the day, they are going to do what makes the most sense for themselves and their district. It shouldn’t be about supporting the president,” said Israel, who is leaning in support of the authorization.

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Israel expressed skepticism that the Syria debate would emerge as a major issue in next year’s midterm election. He said that Democrats intend to make 2014 a referendum on the House GOP’s conservative agenda. While polls show voters dissatisfied with both parties in Congress, Israel argued that there there is growing frustration with what he called the GOP’s obstructionist approach.

The election, Israel said, “is not a referendum on Syria. [It’s] a referendum on solutions, it is a referendum on who is willing to get things done, and who clings to partisanship and extremism.”

“The House GOP brand,” he said, “remains absolutely toxic.”

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And while Republicans are determined to make Obamacare a central issue in races, Israel said he believed voters have moved past the ideological warfare over the new law.

“It will be a referendum not on Obamacare, but on who is trying to make it work and who is trying to destroy it,” he said.

Many handicappers are saying that Democrats face long odds in their quest to net the 17 seats they need to capture the majority. But Israel shrugged off those projections, saying it was premature to reach any conclusions about an election still more than a year away.

“It’s just way to early to say,” he said.