The fight over authorizing military strikes against Syria has already damaged Barack Obama’s international standing and weakened America’s global credibility, but it could bring benefits to Republicans in Congress. Like the nation at large, the GOP remains sharply divided over the right response to Syrian war crimes, but the president has already received enough Republican support to undermine his claim that his conservative opponents are hyper-partisans and obstructionists who will never cooperate.

In fact, it’s Democrats—especially the Congressional Black Caucus—who have been most outspoken against the administration’s Syria policy, exploding the toxic charge that opposition to Obama’s blunders arises from racial prejudice.

If nothing else, the Syria fight shows that Republicans aren’t just reflexive obstructionists and Obama-haters, while disagreement from the president’s fellow black Democrats shows that opposition to this president isn’t based on race.