Polling shows that Americans do not blame the Republican Party, as a whole, for the shutdown. Polling summarized by Bloomberg makes this clear (see bullets 3-6):
- A Quinnipiac University poll taken Jan. 9-13 found that 56 percent of Americans blame Trump and Republicans for the shutdown, while 36 percent fault Democrats.
- A Washington Post/ABC poll taken Jan. 8-11 found that 53 percent say Trump and congressional Republicans are to blame, while 29 percent point the finger at Democrats.
- A CNN poll taken Jan. 10-11 showed that 55 percent blame Trump and Republicans, while 32 percent blame Democrats.
- A CBS/YouGov survey taken Jan. 9-11 said 47 percent blame Trump, 3 percent blame Republicans, and 30 percent blame Democrats.
- A Reuters/Ipsos poll taken January 1-7 found that 51 percent blame Trump, 7 percent blame Republicans and 32 percent fault Democrats.
- A Politico/Morning Consult poll from Jan. 4-6 found that 47 percent blame Trump, 5 percent blame Republicans and 33 percent blame Democrats.
I’d like to highlight bullets 3 to 6 above. In the first 3 bullets, people appear to blame Trump and republicans for the shutdown in the first 3 surveys. But that seems to be misleading. In 3 other surveys that separate the president from the party, people give the GOP a free pass:
- in the CBS/YouGov survey, only 3 percent blame republicans
- in the Reuters/Ipsos poll only 7 percent blame republicans
- in the Politico/Morning Consult poll, only 5 percent blame republicans
This information is incredibly important IMHO. It helps explain why nothing is changing. The GOP is getting away with a huge sleight of hand — letting the president absorb the anger (without consequences) while McConnell refuses to act (also without consequences). It can only mean that GOP reps and (especially) senators are not hearing from their constituents and not getting demands to do their jobs. We all know McConnell is sheltering Trump from the worst of the political fallout, by preventing a vote on any of the various bills the Democrats have passed to re-open the government. But republicans in the house and senate are protecting McConnell because they aren’t feeling any political consequences to staying silent.
This is a very local problem it seems to me. First, people need to hear, clearly and frequently, that it is their own reps and senators who are dragging out this shutdown, putting everyone at risk, by refusing to force McConnell’s hand. People need to understand that it’s a nice bargain for GOP members — they stay silent and McC shields them from public view. If he brought those bills to the floor they would pass overwhelmingly, perhaps (eventually) in a veto-proof majority. We need to do a better job spreading that message.
Only local pressure will force GOP reps to take action within their party, to get McConnell to budge. We can’t keep focusing only on Trump — that’s the game they want us to play, because it lets them all off the hook. They can just point to the crazy and wash their hands of the whole thing.
No more. Every single GOP rep and senator must hear from their constituents today that the shutdown must end. Blame the GOP — not just the president.