There are a few new polls Senate Republicans might want to check out before they decide how to vote on the bill to reopen the government until Feb. 8. They are not in a position of strength on this one, at least when it comes to popular support.
A CBS News poll finds that 66 percent of Americans think Donald Trump should agree to a budget without funding for his border wall, while just 31 percent say he should hold out for his wall. Where Trump will take comfort there is that 65 percent of Republicans want him to reject a budget without wall money, but that 65 percent of Republicans is not going to be enough for 2020 wins in a lot of places. Almost even sweeter, 47 percent of people said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is doing a better job handling shutdown negotiations to just 35 percent who said Trump, Mr. Art of the Deal himself, is doing a better job.
A Politico/Morning Consult poll, meanwhile, found that 54 percent of people blame Trump and Republicans for the shutdown, compared to 35 percent who blame congressional Democrats. A third poll, from Public Policy Polling, found similar numbers: 55 percent blamed Trump and Republicans, while 43 percent blamed Democrats. Trump had 35 percent of the respondents with him in wanting the government to stay shut until he gets his wall money, which is a strikingly large number of people willing to cause massive pain for a pointless exercise in bigotry, but a very low number if we’re talking about trying to win elections.
This is not a side issue, either. The CBS News poll found that 60 percent of people feel the shutdown is causing the country serious problems. On Thursday, Senate Republicans have a choice of which side to take here.