Poll: GOP to blame for unpopular shutdown

The public says Republicans bear more responsibility for shutting down the government than Democrats, according to a CBS News poll released on Thursday. 

{mosads}According to the survey, 44 percent said congressional Republicans are to blame, against 35 percent who blame President Obama or Democrats in Congress. That’s a considerably narrower gap than the previous shutdown in 1995, when Republicans took the blame by a margin of 51 percent to 28 percent.

However, a full 72 percent disapprove of shutting down the government over differences on the Affordable Care Act, which is the primary reason Republicans initiated the showdown over funding the government.

A slight plurality of Republicans surveyed disapprove of the shutdown, with 49 percent against and 48 percent in favor. Fifty-seven percent of self-identified Tea Party Republicans are in favor of the shutdown.

On Thursday, Washington entered its third day of the shutdown. Party leaders from the House and Senate met with the president at the White House Wednesday, but both sides left the meeting saying they were no closer to an agreement.

The CBS poll of 1,021 adults was conducted Oct. 1-2 and has a 3-percentage-point margin of error.