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When the deal was still just a negotiation, Republican senators led by Tom Cotton of Arkansas sent an “open letter” to Iran’s leaders
urging them to dismiss talks. Shortly afterward, Republican leaders
joined with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to slam the negotiation as a deadly threat to Israel. In the following months, Republicans would say the deal was “
akin to declaring war on Israel”; that Obama was “
march[ing]” Israelis to the “door of the oven”; and that the president was siding with “the oppressors.” The apex of this criticism came Tuesday, when former Vice President Cheney
slammed the agreement in the fiercest words possible. “I know of no nation in history that has agreed to guarantee that the means of its own destruction will be in the hands of another nation, particularly one that is hostile,” he said.
None of this scared Democrats into voting against the deal.
Instead, it was evidence that this fight was irreducibly partisan, with no chance of a compromise or détente. Cautious Democrats—like Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon or Cory Booker of New Jersey—had two options:
They could sign on with Cheney and the GOP, or they could bolster the president. They chose the latter, and handed Obama a victory that wasn’t guaranteed.
All of this should sound familiar. Change a few details, and you have the dynamic of early 2010, when a desperate Democratic Party wanted bipartisan support for a health care bill, and would take any compromise to pass a law. In that moment Republicans were primed to win the substance; they could deny the Democratic goal of universal health insurance
and show their concern for the least fortunate with a piecemeal and limited health reform law. Instead, they wouldn’t budge, which forced Democrats into a choice: They could save the Affordable Care Act and pass it as written, or they could end the fight with nothing. They chose the former, and gave Obama the law that may define his legacy.
The Republican Party helped Obama win on the Iran deal: The GOP’s partisan positions convinced Democrats to rally around the president.
