Are Republicans actually about to win a political messaging battle? It’d certainly be shocking given the party’s track record, but that’s the story of a new Associated Press poll that is just brutal for the Democrat narrative on the debt ceiling fight.
The results of an AP-NORC survey show that 63 percent want a deal on the debt ceiling to include measures to reduce the federal deficit. This compares with just 19% who want the debt ceiling to be raised without conditions.
21 percent of adults follow the debate closely, and 38% follow somewhat closely. The same percentage of adults feel that they understand the debate very or extremely well (20%), or somewhat well (41%).
19% of the public believe that the debt limit should not be raised unless conditions are included. 63%, however, want to see terms in any increase on the debt limit regarding the reduction of the federal budget deficit. Democrats are more likely to support raising the debt limit without conditions than Republicans.
Democrats are betting on the fact that Americans will blame Republicans no matter what for a potential default. This is exactly what has happened in the past. Especially with the government shutdown battles, the press would change its position depending on the power in place. Shutdowns are always the fault of the president if a Republican is in power. If a Democrat holds the presidency, then shutdowns are always the fault of Congress.
It seems that Americans are finally tired of being played. Democrats have been pushing absurd ideas, like minting $1 trillion coins or using the 14th Amendment to pay off the nation’s debt. Why would you do this when the majority of Americans simply want an agreement with attached spending cuts? Even more so when both the first two moves are likely to be ruled illegal.
I must give House Speaker Kevin McCarthy some credit. During the debate over whether or not he would assume this role, I wrote a number of articles saying he deserves to be given a chance because he had made concessions to the conservatives regarding committee assignments and the rule package. He’s delivered on all fronts so far.
Nearly no one believed he would be able to unite the Republican caucus in order to pass a bill raising the debt ceiling. Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority leader, was so sure McCarthy would fail that they joined forces with Democrats to pass an omnibus lame-duck bill. He didn’t believe the new majority had the ability to govern. He was wrong. Someone should ask him why.
Biden’s failure to calculate in his failed career has continued to this day. He thought that pointing fingers would be enough to get the press on his side, but Americans don’t buy what he or his party is selling. There’s not much time left to influence public opinion, either. The deadline is just a few short days away. Democrats have to make a simple decision. Either Democrats drive the country off the fiscal cliff and then take the blame for it, or they make some modest concessions to get a deal. Republicans appear to have outmaneuvered the opposition for the first time in years.
