NOTE: I composed today’s chart before the news broke that the GOP negotiators have suspended the debt ceiling talks today. I suspect they are getting in front of what looks like a Democrat attempt to trap them, as speculated below.

After (P)resident Biden spent months of stubbornly insisting that he would not negotiate about lifting the debt ceiling, suddenly he is having negotiations and striking very conciliatory poses about reaching a deal that would clearly involve some concessions to Republicans. Perhaps this is a cynical ploy to yank the rug out of a deal and try to blame the Republicans, but after Kevin McCarthy’s deft move of passing an increase in the debt ceiling with conditions, the Democrats were suddenly put in a bad spot.

But the White House may also be reading the opinion polls: