So Republicans are predictably unfair. But there’s no sign so far that Democrats are getting the result they hoped for — that voters will recognize that the GOP was acting in bad faith, forcing House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to cave in. recent polling from ABC and Washington Post democrat gives narrow advantage, but not more than one. The same number of voters from each party – 78 percent – would blame the opposite party for the default, which is not surprising given the level of partisanship at the moment. 37 percent of independents say they would blame Republicans, 29 percent blame Joe Biden and 24 percent blame both parties equally — hardly a resounding political statement.
To be fair, Democrats may have ended up in this position anyway. Raising the debt ceiling in the lame duck session would require consent from Senators Joe Manchin and Kirsten Sinema, but of course, as The American Prospect’S. David Dion told, It would have been easier to negotiate with him than with McCarthy. And even if Democrats get it done, Republicans will use the appropriations process to try to extract deeper cuts. But the economic risks associated with the appropriations are small enough that it would increase Democratic leverage: With a debt cap, Republicans could threaten to essentially nuke the entire economy unless Democrats capitulated.
No wonder some Democrats are regretting the decision that led to this. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia said, “If I could do something differently” the debt ceiling would not be raised during the lame duck period. Said Political last week. “And I was saying at the time… ‘Hey, we got the votes.’ a Democratic Senate aide resounding Cain’s spirit to Semaphore, saying, “We had plenty of time to come up with a plan. And we didn’t.”
