The Winston Group’s David Winston writes about the government shutdown, and how voters tend to react to government shutdowns, in today’s Roll Call.
Historical public opinion data from Winning the Issues research, which began in 1999, shows that the government shutdown in 2013 delivered the lowest point for voter attitude toward the direction of the country. In a survey done on Oct. 14–15, 2013, the results were 14-77 (right direction-wrong track). Among independents, it was 12-81. Both parties were underwater, with Republicans at 30-64 (favorable-unfavorable) and Democrats at 38-56.
Today, with America waking up to a partial shutdown, both parties take the field with negative images. In the Sept. 26–29 Economist/YouGov survey, the favorable-unfavorable of the Democratic Party was 32-58, with the Republican Party at 36-55.
Among independents, it was even worse for both, with Democrats at 20-61 favorable-unfavorable and Republicans at 23-60. Independents respond particularly negatively to shutdowns, and currently, 24 percent think the country is headed in the right direction, while 66 percent believe it is off on the wrong track.
Read the full piece here.
