A new CNN poll shows that large majorities of Americans favor loosening long-standing restrictions on relations with Cuba.
According to the CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll conducted April 3 to 5, 64 percent of the 1,023 Americans surveyed by telephone thought the U.S. government should allow citizens to travel to Cuba.
And 71 percent of those polled said that the U.S. should reestablish diplomatic relations with Cuba, while 27 percent opposed such a move.
Both questions had a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
So by large majorities, Americans now recognize that the near half-century of estrangement from Cuba is a relic from another era.
The poll shows that a significant number of Republicans support easing restrictions as well.
"Republicans as well as Democrats favor reestablishing diplomatic relations with Cuba," CNN polling director Keating Holland said. "On the issue of lifting travel restrictions, Republicans are evenly divided, while independents and Democrats support the change."
From the looks of it, about the only thing that could stop this from becoming law is a filibuster by the two Cuban-American Senators--Mel Martinez and Bob Menendez have both come out against this bill. Never mind that Obama's proposal would allow Cuban-Americans to send money to their relatives on the island ... something that would alleviate the dollar-a-day income that has Menendez so upset. Perhaps Menendez and Martinez should study how West Germany handled East Germany--slowly undermining it from the inside.