In the waning months of negotiations between the P5+1 and Iran, nearly a two-thirds majority of the American public were supporting the idea of a nuclear pact. When the deal was signed a still-strong majority of 56% were supportive of the pact, despite politicians already preparing to make it a major political issue.

Then the ad campaigns started. Various Israel Lobby groups, notably AIPAC, started bankrolling a lobbying and media campaign that cost tens of millions of dollars, putting advertisements demanding opposing to the deal across television and newspapers, making misleading statements and at times flat out lying about Iran’s intentions.

It has worked too, with the latest poll showing only 28% of Americans still comfortable backing the exact same deal, while 57% are opposed to the idea. 58% say they believe it makes the world less safe, which is of course what they’ve been hearing on TV.

The anti-pact ad campaign appears to be rapidly becoming a case study in how to buy American opinion on an issue, and has been all the easier because many of the presidential primary candidates are parroting the ads, hoping to secure the funding from the lobbying groups and their deep pockets.

Interestingly, when polls actually lay out the terms of the deal, the American public generally still supports the pact. When the poll simply asks about the pact, however, people seem to default back to the scare campaign and oppose it.

While it was initially seen as virtually impossible for the US Congress to get a two-thirds majority to block the pact, the malleability of the American public in these polls will make it a lot easier for “undecided” Congressmen to sell their vote on the matter, and the highest bidders seem uniformly against diplomacy.

The polls suggest the public is by and large being led around by the nose on the issue, and is willing to believe whatever they hear in commercials, and not asking questions about the agendas of groups which in many cases are overtly trying to foment a US-Iran war.