In New Poll, Americans Blame Everyone for Government Shutdown

Dissatisfaction higher than it was during Clinton-era stoppage

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Mike Theiler / Reuters

A fence surrounds the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington October 5, 2013, as the government shutdown continues into the weekend.

A new CNN/ORC International poll shows that no one is coming out ahead in the current federal funding impasse, but Republicans are taking more heat than the Democrats.

According to the survey, 63 percent of those questioned said they were angry at Republicans, with 57 percent also angry at Democrats, and 53 percent unhappy with President Obama. Nearly half of those surveyed said the shutdown has caused major problems.

Those numbers are higher than during the shutdowns of 1995-96, when President Bill Clinton and Republicans, under then House Speaker Newt Gingrich, reached an impasse over government funding. Republicans took most of the blame during that stoppage (as evidenced by the famous New York Daily News cover from November 1995).

When the crisis ended, President Clinton’s approval numbers rose to some of their highest of his first term. But this time around, with President Obama receiving a much higher share of the blame in polls — and with no end in sight — it doesn’t look like any winner will emerge anytime soon.

[CNN]