By a 53 percent to 30 percent margin, most Republicans say that it will not be a major problem if the debt ceiling is not raised by Aug. 2. The balance of opinion is the reverse among Democrats: 56 percent say it is absolutely essential to meet that deadline to avoid an economic crisis, 28 percent say it is not. Independents are more divided, though a slim 43 percent plurality say the country can go past Aug. 2 without major economic problems, while 32 percent say it is essential to raise the debt limit by this date.
…Tea Party Republicans are by far the most unconvinced about the potential fallout from going past the Aug. 2 deadline. Fully 65 percent of Republicans and Republican leaning independents who agree with the Tea Party see no major problems if this occurs, compared with 45 percent of Republicans and Republican leaners who do not agree with the Tea Party.
Here’s a metric that shows how effective Fox and other GOP propaganda mills are at spinning Republican voters:
Most Republicans and GOP leaning independents (59 percent) who have been following the issue very or fairly closely say the country can go past Aug. 2 without major problems; about the same percentage of Democrats and Democratic leaners (61 percent) who have been following this issue very or fairly closely say it would be a major crisis.
