GOP losing support on deficit, poll finds

As Washington faces a third round of fiscal brinksmanship this week, evidence is emerging that the public’s support for the GOP on the deficit is eroding.

The GOP has made fiscal prudence its signature issue this year, but its strategy of confrontation and ultimate compromise might be backfiring.

A new Pew Research Center poll out Monday finds only 35 percent of those surveyed have at least a fair amount of confidence in Republican leaders on the deficit, compared to 47 percent in May. Sixty-two percent have little or no confidence.

Only sixty-two percent of Republicans have confidence in their leaders on the deficit, down from 76 percent four months ago.

In contrast, President Obama has emerged relatively unscathed from this year's fiscal battles.

Fifty-two percent of those surveyed said they have at least a fair amount of confidence in Obama on the deficit, close to his 53 percent rating last December.

The GOP used the threat of a government shutdown in April to cut 2011 spending and threatened to allow the U.S. to default on its obligations in August unless a debt-reduction plan was enacted.

The final cuts and debt plan nonetheless disappointed fiscal conservatives.

Obama has countered the GOP strategy by insisting the party is protecting the wealthy while slashing aid to the poor and to the elderly.

The Pew survey finds two-thirds of those surveyed support increasing taxes on the wealthy to balance the budget, while 55 percent oppose cutting poverty programs such as Medicaid.

This week, House Republicans and Senate Democrats are battling over disaster aid as the clock ticks down to the end of the fiscal year on Oct. 1 without an overall spending bill in place.

Pew interviewed 1,000 adults from Sept. 22 through Sept. 25.

---