‘DC excuse-making’: Voters blame Biden and Democrats, not filibuster, for gridlock

WaEx:

President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats may have the facts on their side regarding the filibuster, but voters appear to care very little.

While Biden and his Capitol Hill allies complain their legislative priorities are being impeded by Republicans and Senate rules in the 50-50 chamber, some voters are oblivious to the finer details. Polls show they simply blame Democrats for Washington’s latest gridlock.

Biden’s problems started with the Jan. 5 Georgia Senate runoffs, according to Spencer Kimball, Emerson College Polling’s director. Democrats clinching a majority by the slimmest of margins, with Vice President Kamala Harris capable of casting tiebreaking votes as the voting president of the chamber, dominated headlines, but the party falling short of a filibuster-proof 60 votes received less attention, he explained.

Yes, part of the news cycle was cannibalized by the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Kimball told the Washington Examiner. But the pollster suspected the twin Democratic wins would eventually “hurt” Biden because they created “a perception in the court of public opinion that the Democrats had control of all three branches,” he said of the White House and both chambers of Congress. more here