Dave Weigel tries to parse CNN's poll results showing Republicans support Barack Obama's decision to intervene in Libya even if they don't like how he's doing it. Seventy-eight percent of Republicans support the intervention, while only 27 percent approve of Obama's handling of the situation. Overall, 70 percent support the strategy.
Some advocates of the NFZ, like John McCain, have fretted that it should have been launched earlier, and delay has been problematic. I'm sure some of the low GOP support number can be pinned on that. I'd bet the rest of it is a result of the occasionally-coherent criticism of GOP leaders, who have called Obama out for "dithering" even as he moved toward the response they wanted.
I think he's thinking too much. This probably applies to the limited number of people who are actually paying attention to the issue, but since most Americans don't, the shorter, easier answer is that Republicans are hawkish people who tend to support wars and strongly dislike Democratic presidents.
Weigel also points out that Tea Partiers, at 73 percent, support the decision to implement a "no-fly zone" almost as much as Republicans do. We could continue pretending there's a meaningful distinction between the two groups, but there really isn't.
