The journalists clearly understood that the debt ceiling issue is pretty arcane, that relatively few Americans really understand why it exists, and thus haven’t formed a meaningful opinion about it.

Note that the poll did not attempt to measure how many respondents had even heard of the issue before being asked about it in the poll. 2 If the debt limit is not raised and the government goes into default, who would you mainly blame for that – Issues of debt payment and federal spending should be handled separately (58%).Allow government to pay debts ONLY if Biden agrees to cut spending (26%).

Without this step, the government could default on its debt. Q.1 Congress typically passes legislation on a regular basis to pay its debts. The questionnaire included just two substantive questions on the issue of the debt ceiling: Instead, it reflects the manipulation of opinion that is built into the questionnaire design. As it is structured, the poll cannot accurately represent the views of the US public on the debt ceiling.

The poll is an egregious example of manufacturing rather than measuring public opinion. According to a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll ( 5/5/23), Americans are about evenly divided on who they would blame-Republicans in Congress or President Biden-“if the debt limit is not raised and the government goes into default.”

Blame master edition 2