CNN Poll: Republican Blame Down, Obama Blame Rising, if the Government Shuts Down

CNN’s headline, typical of the old Clinton News Network minus the Clinton protagonist center stage, is that its polls shows the Republicans would be blamed more than Democrats or Obama if there is a government shutdown. But behind that headline is an interesting trend.

According to the poll, which was conducted Friday through Sunday, 46% say they would blame congressional Republicans for a government shutdown, with 36% saying the president would be more responsible and 13% pointing fingers at both the GOP in Congress and Obama.

“The number who would hold congressional Republicans responsible has gone down by 5 points since early September, and the number who would blame Obama is up 3 points in that same time,” said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “Those changes came among most demographic groups.”

So if there’s a trend, it favors the Republicans. They could, as I’ve pointed out before, win the communications war over a shutdown. Not that I expect them to. Winning would require unity and savvy. Neither is much in evidence on the GOP side.