More Americans say they’ll blame the GOP if the country shuts down on Oct. 1.
In a new CBS/New York Times poll, 44% say congressional Republicans will shoulder the blame for even a partial shutdown.
Congress is once again battling over Obamacare funding with conservatives opposing all budgets that fund the health care law and the president refusing to negotiate on the law. If they can’t come to an agreement–even a temporary one–the government will not be funded as of Oct. 1 and could run out of cash to pay its bills on or around Oct. 17 if Congress doesn’t agree to raise the debt limit.
Fewer Americans, 35%, said they’d blame the president and congressional Democrats. Less than a fifth of Americans, 16%, said they’d blame both sides equally.
It will come as no surprise to those who remember the 1995 shutdown, when Republicans led a shutdown under a Democratic president. At the time, 51% of Americans blamed congressional Republicans while just 28% blamed Bill Clinton.
Watch the full discussion on all the latest poll numbers here.
Jane Timm