The White House is mounting a vigorous push to convince liberals to back the Iran deal.
 
In recent days, President Obama, Vice President Biden and other top officials have made a number of outreaches to persuade Democrats — especially in the House — to back the agreement, amid signs that the crucial bloc may be splintering.
 
 “As big of a bully pulpit as I have, it’s not enough,” the president told his supporters. “I can’t carry it by myself.”
He noted that Democratic lawmakers he meets with do not buy opponents’ arguments, but some are wavering under pressure that is “fierce, well-financed and relentless,” he warned.
 “I can tell when they start getting squishy,” he said.
Opponents are spending $20 million on television ads lobbying against the deal and flooding lawmakers with calls and letters, Obama said.
 
The critics are backed by “billionaires who happily finance super-PACs, and they are putting the squeeze on members of Congress,” the president said. “If they don’t hear from you, this opportunity could slip away.”
 
Thursday’s call was part of a last-minute personalized lobbying pitch Obama and Biden are making to lawmakers before Congress leaves Washington for its August recess.
 
Obama has held multiple one-on-one meetings with lawmakers, and he hosted a group reception with most of the House Democratic Caucus on Wednesday.
 
That meeting was cut short when lawmakers were called back to the Capitol for the final votes before the five-week recess, though a few dozen came back later and discussed the details of the deal for nearly two hours, according to the White House.
 
On Thursday morning, Biden had a breakfast meeting with House Democrats to discuss the agreement as well.
 
The vigorous outreach is a change of pace for the White House, which has been criticized for keeping Congress at arm’s length for most of Obama’s tenure. The current tone is reminiscent of the administration’s efforts this past spring, during the congressional fight over fast-track trade authority.
 
As the days tick by until a September vote on the Iran deal, the White House is making clear that it will pull out all the stops to ensure that the agreement — a top priority Obama wants for his legacy — isn’t undone by members of his own party.
 
Republicans are expected to vote en masse to kill the nuclear deal in September, setting up a veto from the president. After that, it will fall to Democrats to make sure that there aren’t two-thirds majorities in each chamber to override the veto.
 
“We have concluded we’re not going to spend a whole lot of time trying to persuade [Republican lawmakers],” White House press secretary Earnest acknowledged Thursday.
 
Earnest said officials would continue to share information with members of the opposite party.

Nadler — a swing vote — met one-on-one for 30 minutes with the president Wednesday ahead of a larger 30-minute meeting that Obama held with the full slate of House Democrats.
 
Rep. Eliot Engel (N.Y.), the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was spotted in the West Wing and had a similar meeting, Nadler said.
 
Throughout the course of the last two weeks, Secretary of State John Kerry, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and other top Obama deputies have repeatedly visited Capitol Hill to sell lawmakers on the finer points of the deal.
 
The push is partly being driven by the congressional calendar, which leaves little time for lobbying from one end of Pennsylvania Avenue to the other.
 
“There is a sense of urgency around the fact that, yes, members of Congress are prepared to leave town for several weeks, and so we want to use the opportunity while they’re in town to spend some time with the president, so he can talk to them face-to-face about what’s included in the agreement,” Earnest said Thursday.
 
Still, there are early signs that support may be fraying.
 
This week, Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) said some portions of the deal were “unacceptable” and “simply too dangerous for the American people.”
 
On Monday, Rep. Juan Vargas (D-Calif.) wrote an op-ed describing his fear that the accord “fails to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program … will spark an arms race in the Middle East” and “rewards” Iran’s support of extremist groups such as Hezbollah.” He would also oppose it, he said.
 
The blowback may only get worse over the course of the five-week summer recess, which began for House lawmakers this week. Some members of Congress— especially those with particularly heavy populations of Jewish constituents — are expected to get an earful about the deal when they go home.
 
That mounting pressure may be why Obama has decided to turn to outside activists, such as those on the Thursday call.
 

The Hill, 30 July 2015