Outside the Beltway

NBC/WSJ Poll: Public Would Blame Both Sides If There Was A Shutdown

Doug Mataconis · Wednesday, April 6, 2011 · 2 comments

Politically, it doesn’t look like there’s anyone who would benefit from a shutdown:

If there’s a government shutdown, the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that there will be enough blame to go around.

A plurality of 37 percent say they would blame congressional Republicans if the current budget disagreement leads to a shutdown of the federal government, while 20 percent say they would blame President Obama and another 20 percent would blame congressional Democrats.

Seventeen percent say they would blame everyone, and another 2 percent say they would blame both Obama and congressional Democrats.

This is largely consistent with another poll I wrote about yesterday and, while the number who would blame the GOP is higher than the others, its nowhere near where it was during the Clinton/Gingrich shutdown saga:

opinions are far different now than they were during a similar dispute in 1995, shortly before the government did shut down. In November 1995, a few days before the government shut down, 46% said it would be mainly the Republicans’ fault while 27% said the Clinton administration would be more at fault, according to a Washington Post/ABC News survey.

Public perception could change, of course, but right now there’s no reason to think the GOP will be as harmed as it was by the 1995/96 shutdown.