The con is on, folks.
Although a new CNN poll shows that across-the-board everyone will be blamed and damaged should the government shut down tomorrow, that is not the spin coming today from CNN or the rest of the left-wing media. Desperate to replay the ’90s, even though today’s poll says differently, the media are working together to terrify the GOP into caving when what we really have is a situation wherein Obama is going to be much more damaged than a Republican Party that doesn’t have much to lose.
According to the CNN poll, 58% believe congressional Democrats are acting like spoiled children, compared to 69% for the GOP. In other words, the public see both sides as losers, the GOP only a little more so.
In the event of a government shutdown, 46% would blame congressional Republicans and 36% would blame Obama. However, 13% would blame both — which puts Obama only a point under 50%.
The media are attempting to spin these numbers in a way that makes it look as though the GOP will “bear the brunt of shutdown blame,” but once you are at or over the 50% mark, it is all semantics. No one looks good and both sides are going to get hurt.
There is no question that the media’s mission is to shape a reality that declares Obama a winner and the GOP a loser in the event of a shutdown. But both are looking like losers, which means a draw.
Moreover, and this is the most important point, the president is going to be the real loser in a draw. How much lower can congressional approval ratings go? Not much. That institution is already in the toilet. Obama’s approval now sits in the low forties. A shutdown could drop him into the thirties, where a president becomes the lamest of ducks.
Obama has much, much more to lose in the event of a shutdown. Another thing the media should keep in mind is that there are two other issues that distinguish what his happening today from the 1990s: First, this shutdown is over ObamaCare, something substantial the American people can easily understand. ObamaCare is a BIG issue and increasingly unpopular.
Finally, the media landscape is completely different today. Clinton enjoyed a monopoly of media that sided with him. There was no Fox News and no New Media.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC