The conservative Republicans who are now emboldened over claiming the political scalp of House Speaker John Boehner are likely to pursue in coming months confrontations that’ll trigger a government shutdown. However, they’re on shaky political ice when it comes to mainstream voters. A new poll shows 49 percent oppose a government shutdown over the issue of funding Planned Parenthood:
Nearly seven in 10 Americans — 69 percent — oppose shutting down the government over funding for Planned Parenthood, according to the results of a new national Quinnipiac University poll released Monday.
Get ready for some to now call it a liberal poll, call Quinnipiac a hotbed of liberalism, or (the usual response to partisans on both sides when they don’t like a poll) say the methodology is wrong.
Just 23 percent support closing the government over the dispute. Even among Republicans, a majority of 56 percent to 36 percent opposes a shutdown due to Planned Parenthood.
This is an interesting tidbit. Yes, this issue does involve some gender perceptions:At the same time, 44 percent to 39 percent said they had a favorable opinion of Planned Parenthood, with a significant gender gap. Among women, 50 percent to 35 percent approve of the group, while men disapprove, 43 percent to 38 percent.
And on cutting off funding?But as far as cutting off funding to the group, 52 percent said they would oppose doing so, compared with 41 percent who supported such an action. Women opposed such an action by a wide margin — 60 percent to 34 percent — while men responding to the survey supported an end to federal funding 49 percent to 44 percent.
The odds of a shutdown have decreased since Friday, when House Speaker John Boehner announced his resignation at the end of October.
But all signs point to the fact that the new speaker will be dedicated to less compromise and likely take the United States right up to the brink of a devastating debt ceiling default. President Barack Obama will have an eye now on bending to pressure that would set a dangerous precedent. The end result could be GOPers giving in, or the party’s far right (egged on by talk radio) will let the US go over the cliff and then try to blame it on the Democrats — not on the concept of rejecting compromise and consensus as a political (in effect blackmail) tool. More on Boehner:
The move means he’ll be able to pass a “clean” bill funding the government with the help of Democrats, without fear of the political consequences.
Should the government still shut down, however, 39 percent told Quinnipiac they would blame congressional Republicans, while 37 percent would point the finger at President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats, and 14 percent said everyone would be equally at fault.
It would be a pox on both your houses, to be sure. But the business wing of the GOP won’t be pleased at all and it will accentuate widening divisions within the Republican Party, divisions far more profound then those now developing in the Democratic Party.
But, hey, it’d be boffo for talk radio and cable talk ratings and Republican political fund-raising letters.
graphic via shutterstock.com
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.