It’s beginning to look like GOP House Majority Leader Eric Cantor may be the congressional Democrats’ secret weapon in the battle for public support in the debt ceiling talks. In a CBS News Poll conducted July 15-17, 71 percent of respondents said they disapproved of the handling of the debt ceiling negotiations by Republicans in congress, with only 21 percent saying they approved of the Republicans role. Slightly more than half of Republicans, 51 percent, said they disapproved of how members of their party in congress are negotiating.
Not that the figures favoring Democratic members of congress were all that great, with 58 percent expressing their disapproval of Democrats in the debt ceiling negotiations, and 31 percent approving. But most Dems are no doubt OK with a 13 point edge over the GOP House members in the disapproval figures.
President Obama did significantly better in the poll, with 43 percent approving of his leadership in the debt ceiling negotiations, and 48 percent disapproving. It can be argued that there are no big winners here. But it’s clear enough which party is the biggest loser.