Who's to blame for government shutdown? A new poll shows what voters think.
In Washington D.C., the showdown war of words continues, and so does the government shutdown.
"Republicans have shown zero interest or capacity to reopen the government, enact a spending agreement that meets the needs of the American people, or address the health care crisis that Republicans have created," said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
"This is now the second longest government shutdown of any kind ever in the history of our country, and it's just shameful," said Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson. "Democrats keep making history, but they're doing it for all the wrong reasons."
Two different versions of reality. But in the end, the one that counts belongs to the voters.
What do voters think?
Shutdown stress is growing with furloughed workers struggling to pay bills and others forced to deal with a reduction of services. As the shutdown closes in on the all-time record of 35 days, it's begging an important political question - which party stands to take more of the blame from voters?
According to the latest survey of more than 1,300 registered voters by the respected , it's a close call overall, with 45% blaming the Republicans and 39% pointing to the Democrats.
If you look past the partisan voters and narrow in on declared independents, the gap mushrooms with 48% holding the GOP accountable compared with 32% blaming Democrats.
The poll's gender gap is bad news for the Republicans, with women blaming them by a 15-point margin while men are 5% more likely to blame the Democrats.
"Terrible poll for Republicans"
"It's a terrible poll for Republicans," said Tim Malloy, a Quinnipiac poll analyst. "You do wonder what's going on in the back rooms - if there are back rooms - about how to right this ship. So to some extent Trump and the party are on their heels."
Democrats have pushed for negotiations over health care tax credits to be included in a new measure to fund the government.
The poll numbers speak to the potency of the health care cost issue.
Democrats won't extend government funding without addressing the health insurance subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. Republicans believe health care and other issues should be negotiated outside the context of funding the government. They want Democrats to agree to a temporary funding extension.
If the funding cuts are eased and the shutdown is a distant memory by next year's election, there's no harm, no foul for the GOP.
