For those of us who have been watching politics for longer than we care to admit, Republicans are almost always blamed for government shutdowns.
Why? It's pretty simple really. Democrats and the media are very good at spinning government shutdown politics against Republicans.
That's why some of the polls attempting to gauge public sentiment on the looming government shutdown are interesting.
CNN: "Who would you mainly blame for a government shutdown? Actually, the plurality blame Joe Biden and the Democrats in Congress." pic.twitter.com/Qfh3xNYqOR
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 29, 2023
When CNN recently discussed an ABC/Washington Post poll, the politics of poll pontification immediately became clear.
According to CNN's framing, a 'plurality blame Joe Biden and the Democrats in Congress' for the looming government shutdown.
It's accurate and also a bit surprising for CNN. They could have easily gone with '1 in 3 blame Republicans' or 'more blame Republicans in Congress than Democrats in Congress'.
Could this be a sign of left-wingers souring on Joe Biden?
Note also that the poll was conducted from September 15-20, an eternity in the government shutdown blame game.
What are other polls saying?
NATIONAL POLL: Who will be most responsible if the federal government shuts down?
— MonmouthPoll (@MonmouthPoll) September 27, 2023
GOP (43%)
43% Republicans in Congress
DEM (48%)
21% Democrats in Congress
27% @POTUS Joe Bidenhttps://t.co/oQRRHTbUOH
This poll could, of course, be reported in the same manner: 'A plurality blame Democrats'.
Government shutdown politics is all about spin, however, so we get reports like this:
A new Monmouth University poll found that a plurality of Americans, 43%, would blame congressional Republicans if there’s a government shutdown.@RayBogan has more.https://t.co/HLDHmhKO5G
— Straight Arrow News (@StraightArrow__) September 27, 2023
Straight Arrow News, eh? LOL.
That's quite a feat of deceptive acrobatics to report that Americans blame Republicans when the poll clearly shows a majority blame Democrats.
NEW POLL:
— Democratic Coalition (@TheDemCoalition) September 28, 2023
Nearly a third of voters, 29%, said they would blame Republicans in Congress for the shutdown, while 14% said they would blame Democrats in Congress and 13% said they would blame President Biden.#GOPShutdownhttps://t.co/SCgxFqv2bO
Here's another poll that Democrats seem to particularly favor because it does actually show the GOP getting the blame.
'Nearly a third!' … Okay, 4 points from a third, but you do you.
The reality is that even this YouGov poll, conducted from September 23-26, shows a virtual dead heat between those who point the finger at Republicans versus those who blame Dems/Biden.
A whopping 32% blame 'everyone equally'.
EXCLUSIVE: A new Messenger/Harris poll found that a majority of voters believe Congress should solely focus on averting a government shutdownhttps://t.co/pRY4xmi9Gz
— The Messenger (@TheMessenger) September 28, 2023
Here's how they frame their poll:
A clear plurality of voters (46%) blame congressional Republicans for stalled funding talks and the looming government shutdown. Twenty-nine percent blame Democrats in Congress and 26% blame President Joe Biden.
Again with the 'clear plurality' phrasing, in a poll that shows 55% of voters blaming the Democrats and Joe Biden. (Yeah, we know the numbers don't add up … rounding errors and all that. Hey, we didn't do it!)
This is absolutely the fault of Joe Biden and Democrats. They need to go.
— Max Ukropina (@MaxUkropina) September 29, 2023
We're sure you're surprised where we stand on this.
Of course, the Democrats are to blame. The GOP controls 'the power of the purse'. The People's most recently elected representatives should have the most sway in deciding where our money is spent.
Democrats will always hold out for government shutdowns to try to get their way, mostly because they've been historically successful in pinning the blame on the GOP.
This is backfiring in the Democrats face!
— RedWave Press (@RedWave_Press) September 29, 2023
We can hope but don't be surprised if they manage to flip public opinion again in this case. They're really good at it.
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