Americans embrace change but recoil from chaos. This is the third time that the federal government has shut down while Donald Trump has been president. One shutdown may be an accident, twice a coincidence but the third time is an ominous pattern, three strikes and MAGA is out.
A new national survey of adult Americans by CBS News and YouGov.com indicates that congressional Democrats have an edge in the showdown over the federal government shutdown. My party’s advantage is consistent with the results of other national surveys. Four out of every ten (39 percent) people blame President Trump for the closure and three in ten adults fault Democrats.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has jumped on this opportunity and challenged House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to a live televised national debate. Knowing that his position to deny affordable health care to millions of Americans is untenable, Johnson whiffed on the chance to explain his callous position to angry Americans.
It takes two to tango, so it’s not surprising that one out of every three people spread the blame widely. Trump’s approval rating for handling the shutdown is underwater by 20 percent. He runs the game, so he gets the blame when things go bad. Trump is a soft target because he occupies the most visible position on the Potomac. But Democrats’ rating isn’t anything to write home about either with a rating underwater at minus-22 percent.
The contest between the two parties gives each of them the chance to revive their fortunes before next year’s congressional elections. Democrats must seize the opportunity now that they have Trump locked into the position of denying affordable health care to millions of Americans.
But Trump is president and he is the one with the most to lose. Inflation is a big public concern during this struggle and Trump is the guy who promised voters last year that he would bring prices down on the first day of his second term. Raging inflation is the straw that could break the Republicans’ back in the midterm elections. His job rating for keeping prices down is so far underwater (minus-32 percent) that it will take a herculean effort to raise it to the surface. Three in four feel that Trump isn’t focused enough on reducing prices.
Jobs and inflation are the major concerns on the public worry-list, and the mischief executive dropped the ball. Most Americans believe that Trump’s policies have hurt them financially. Nine months into Trump’s second term, medical costs are still rising and Democrats have wisely framed this contest as an opportunity to keep these costs from growing going even higher. The Democrats have put Trump and his MAGA acolytes on the spot just over a year before the midterms.
Congressional Democrats deserve credit for fighting against Trump’s opposition to extending Affordable Care Act subsidies, which would raise premiums for health insurance under ObamaCare and deprive others of any health care assistance at all. The Democratic leadership and its allies have stood firm and stayed on message in making the case that Trump’s stubborn refusal to reduce health care costs is a threat to the health, wealth and wellbeing of millions of hardworking and financially hard-pressed American families. All of this so his bloated billionaire buddies can keep their big tax breaks.
The CBS survey illustrates each party’s soft spots. The public is most likely to fault Democrats for being weak and Republicans for being extreme. If Democrats stand firm, they will prove to the public that they do have the strength of purpose to run the nation. The Republican insistence on tax breaks at all costs demonstrates the Republicans’ rigid attachment to a radical economic ideology which fattens the rich and starves middle class and prior Americans.
The shutdown game is now in extra innings. Democrats must stand up and be counted to win affordable health care for all Americans. Republicans have fought tooth and nail from the birth of the programs to kill off Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. If Trump wins this budget battle, the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid are down for the count and the two other vital programs will be next on the MAGA hit list.
Brad Bannon is a national Democratic strategist and CEO of Bannon Communications Research which polls for Democrats, labor unions and progressive issue groups. He hosts the popular progressive podcast on power, politics and policy, Deadline D.C. with Brad Bannon.