Poll: GOP Would Get Blame for Shutdown

If Congress and the White House find themselves in another budget stalemate this fall and the government shuts down as a result, Republicans would shoulder most of the blame, a new poll indicates.

In the Quinnipiac University poll, 41 percent of respondents said they would blame Republicans in Congress for a shutdown, while 33 percent said they would lay blame on President Obama and Democrats in Congress. Another 17 percent said both sides would share responsibility equally.

For the poll, conducted Aug. 20-25, Quinnipiac surveyed 1,563 registered voters nationwide. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

Almost 70 percent of those surveyed said they would oppose shutting down the government over differences in funding for Planned Parenthood. GOP presidential hopeful Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has pledged to push a shutdown if necessary to avoid passing any bill that includes  funds for Planned Parenthood. But even among Republicans, a majority in the Quinnipiac poll indicated they would not want to see a shutdown over Planned Parenthood.

The survey also demonstrated Americans’ ongoing dissatisfaction with government at the national level. Only 2 percent of respondents said they were “enthusiastic” about the federal government, with fully 27 percent indicating they were downright angry. Another 49 percent characterized themselves as “dissatisfied, but not angry.”

Likewise, just 2 percent of voters said they trust government "almost all the time," while 51 percent indicated they trust government "some of the time" and 34 percent "hardly ever."

Photo: Flickr user Shannon