Barack Obama is nothing if he’s not a creature of habit. The ink on his new deal with Iran was barely dry when he held a rare press conference at which he asserted that “99% of the world community and the majority of nuclear experts” say his deal “will prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb.” In other words, the consensus is in and the science (political science?) is settled.
Now, someone has to get out there and let the American public in on the news. According to a survey by Monmouth University released on Tuesday, 55% of registered U.S. voters said they do not trust Iran to comply with the agreement. As usual, the findings broke along party lines, but this time even Democrats were skeptical, with 45% expressing doubt that Iran will keep up its end of the bargain.
When asked whether the negotiations were a good or bad idea, Democrats were more positive, with 61% saying yes and 24% saying no, as compared with Republicans, who broke 38% to 55% on the question.
Surprisingly, a combined 74% of all respondents reported having heard “a lot” or “a little” (as opposed to “nothing at all”) about the negotiations, which is rare for an electorate that tends so often to be embarrassingly uninformed about current events.