If you Repeat the Propaganda, People WILL Believe the Democrats are to Blame for the Recession. GOP Strategy Works.

The Democrats are their own worst enemy. As they continue to debate health care, and forget to repeat who got us in the Great Recession, the tide is turning away from them. Duh!


According to CNN: Nearly two years into the recession, opinion about which political party is responsible for the severe economic downturn is shifting, according to a new national poll.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey indicates that 38 percent of the public blames Republicans for the country’s current economic problems … down 15 points from May, when 53 percent blamed the GOP. 27 percent now blame the Democrats for the recession, up 6 points from May. 27 percent now say both parties are responsible for the economic mess.

“The bad news for the Democrats is that the number of Americans who hold the GOP exclusively responsible for the recession has been steadily falling by about two to three points per month,” says CNN Polling. “At that rate, only a handful of voters will blame the economy on the Republicans by the time next year’s midterm elections roll around.”

Washington Monthly’s Steve Benen thinks the most significant question in the CNN poll was this one: “Which of the following comes closer to your view of the budget deficit — the government should run a deficit if necessary when the country is in a recession and is at war, or the government should balance the budget even when the country is in a recession and is at war?" The response, Benen feels, should scare us all:

Common sense suggests concerns over the deficit should wane. But the poll found that a whopping 67% of respondents want the emphasis to be on deficit reduction.

Benen says: "I’m not even sure if the majority fully understands what the deficit is, why it’s large, what would be needed to make it smaller, and how it fits into the larger economic landscape. For many, it seems the “deficit” is just an amorphous concept that loosely means “bad economy.”

Which is why it’s important that policymakers not base policy decisions on illiteracy.

Amen.