Key Constituency Is Skeptical of Obama's Syria Plans

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323864604579063371030721050.html

Key Constituency Is Skeptical of Obama's Syria Plans
President Finds Little Support for Strategy in Largely African-American House District and Congressional Black Caucus
By SIOBHAN HUGHES

BALTIMORE—Residents of a majority-black House district here have been solid supporters of President Barack Obama, giving him three-quarters of the vote in his two White House elections. But this loyalty is being tested by a wariness of his course in Syria.

In weekend interviews in a stretch of Baltimore where a big business complex, home to the NAACP's headquarters, stands just minutes away from a concentration of barber shops and churches, few residents said they supported Mr. Obama's drive toward military action. Many wondered why he would enter another war when Baltimore's own problems deserve attention.

That sentiment helps explain why Mr. Obama is drawing little backing so far from the Congressional Black Caucus, usually one of his firmest bases of support in the House. By some counts, as few as two of the 42 voting caucus members have said they would back Mr. Obama on Syria...

"Why are we going to war?" asked Enoch Elliott, a 28-year-old construction worker who is helping build a new Social Security Administration building in Baltimore. "If we do go to war in Syria, then we're going to have to pay to rebuild the country. We don't even have enough money for Baltimore."