Chris Cillizza should have gone a little deeper in his analysis before making this assertion:
[A] new poll conducted by automated pollster Pulse Opinion Research for The Hill newspaper shows that people largely agree. The poll found 62 percent of people oppose raising the debt ceiling, while just 27 percent support it. (The debt ceiling is how much Congress allows the country to go into debt, and current projections show the country will need to take on more debt by the end of March in order to continue functioning as it is now.)That bodes well for a Republican Party that has vowed to get tough on spending.
Does it? Even excluding Social Security, Medicare, and defense spending, the public has little appetite for cuts. According to the most recent Gallup polling, only 32 percent want cuts in education, and only 39 percent want cuts in anti-poverty programs. Outside of foreign aid, there simply isn't a majority ready to support cuts in any major area:
More important, it's not enough to say that the public "wants spending cuts." Americans have other concerns, and for a fuller picture, you have to compare priorities and balance them against each other. And so, as Pew shows, Americans want lawmakers to deal with the budget deficit, but they place a higher priority on strengthening the economy, creating jobs, and improving education.
Given this, it's entirely possible for the GOP to alienate voters by rushing head first into spending cuts. Especially if the expectation -- from voters -- was that Republicans would tackle the economy first. In other words, given the vagaries of public opinion, it's not at all clear what "bodes well" for Republicans.
