Bipartisan endorsements for President Barack Obama’s request for an authorization to use military force against Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime trickled in through most of the morning. On the Senate side, the president met with Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham. McCain subsequently declared that he had not made up his mind yet, but that a failed Congressional resolution to strike Syria would at a minimum be less than optimal:

“A rejection of this resolution would be catastrophic, not just for him but for the institution of the presidency and the credibility of the United States,” McCain said after meeting with President Barack Obama… McCain, who along with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) met with Obama for an hour at the White House on Monday, said the administration must provide substantial support for the Syrian opposition at the same time it launches a bombing campaign.

On the House side, both House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi publicly expressed backing for the president regarding proposed strikes.

In the afternoon Secretary of State John Kerry, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin E. Dempsey pushed the administration’s case in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Evaluating the landscape – and pressing Kerry on the degree to which a coming Congressional vote would be binding – intervention opponent Sen. Rand Paul outlined the math:

You’re probably going to win, just say it is real, let’s have a meaningful debate. And not where you say we have the authority and we’re going to war anyway.”

[Photo: Stephen_Medlock / Flickr]