Who's getting the blame for the government shutdown?

The GOP has been feverishly trying to place the blame for the government shutdown on President Obama and the Democrats. But the polling numbers show that their attempt isn't working very well. Multiple (in fact, all the polls) polls show that the public blames the Republicans for the shutdown more, and in some cases much more, than it blames President Obama and the Democrats.

NBC/Wall Street Journal Poll (October 7-9, 2013): "By a 22-point margin (53 percent to 31 percent), the public blames the Republican Party more for the shutdown than President Barack Obama – a wider margin of blame for the GOP than the party received during the poll during the last shutdown in 1995-96."

AP/GfK Survey (October 9, 2013): "62 percent mainly blamed Republicans for the shutdown. About half said Obama or the Democrats in Congress bear much responsibility."

CNN/ORC International survey (October 5-6, 2013): "63% of those questioned say they are angry at the Republicans for the way they have handled the shutdown."

Meanwhile, public support for the GOP in general seems to be dropping in a corresponding manner.

Gallup's October 3-6 poll showed that Republican favorability has dropped to an all-time low. "With the Republican-controlled House of Representatives engaged in a tense, government-shuttering budgetary standoff against a Democratic president and Senate, the Republican Party is now viewed favorably by 28% of Americans, down from 38% in September. This is the lowest favorable rating measured for either party since Gallup began asking this question in 1992." Take a look at the chart on the Gallup website, and you can see that the last time the government shut down, GOP favorability also took a huge dive. The twin 1995-1996 shutdowns ended up costing the Republicans several seats in Congress.

There appears to be some real anger. A late-September CNN poll revealed that 69% of the public think the GOP are acting like "spoiled children" over the budget negotiations.

The GOP proceeds with this shutdown at their own peril, because the public clearly places the majority of the blame on them.

Is Obamacare really that unpopular?

The GOP has long been claiming that Obamacare should be defunded/rescinded because it's unpopular, and the polls seem to back them up. Real Clear Politics shows that the polls are running on average about 50% opposed, 40% in favor, and 10% undecided. The Kaiser Family Foundation polls show a slimmer majority in opposition, but still a majority.

But the Kaiser Family Foundation recently posted something else that shows that many Americans don't know what's actually in Obamacare, but when they find out they tend to broadly support it.

Here are some things in the Affordable Care Act that Americans support:

• Allowing young Americans to stay on their parents' coverage. Since this was implemented, the percentage of uninsured young people (ages 19-25) fell from 48% in 2010 to 21% in 2012. 76% of Americans support this, including 69% of Republicans.
• Tax credits to small businesses to buy insurance. According to an article in Forbes, many small businesses are already eligible for tax credits of up to 35 percent. After January 1, 2014, the credit increases to 50%. 88% of Americans support this, including 83% of Republicans.
• Close Medicare “doughnut hole”. 81% of Americans support this, including 74% of Republicans.
• Health insurance exchanges. 80% of Americans support this, including 72% of Republicans.
• Subsidy assistance to individuals. 76% of Americans support this, including 61% of Republicans.
• Medicaid expansion. 71% of Americans support this.
• Guaranteed issue (no pre-existing conditions). 66% of Americans support this, including 56% of Republicans.
• Medical loss ratio. 65% of Americans support this, including 62% of Republicans.

The GOP knows (and Republican Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell has said) that it's easier to prevent something from happening than it is to undo it later. It appears to me that Obamacare is likely to be pretty popular once the word gets out, and my in fact eventually be thought of as being virtually untouchable, like Social Security and Medicare.