PROGRESSIVE MESSAGING: ABOUT AS EFFECTIVE AS USUAL

Hey, let's take a stand on the Bush tax cuts because people need to see it's Republicans holding the middle class hostage hell yeah!

Oops:

Who will be blamed if tax cuts expire on December 31st? According to a new McClatchy-Marist Poll, it depends on how you slice it.

... exactly one-third of the nation said Republicans in Congress would be most to blame.

President Obama ... receives 19 percent of blame in the poll.

About 3 in 10 Americans said they'd blame Democrats, who voted on Thursday to reject the deal brokered between Obama and the GOP.

Combining the values for [Democrats] in Congress and the president reveals that almost half the nation would place the blame on Democrats for failing to reach a compromise with the GOP. One in ten said all parties would be at fault....

(Emphasis added.)

I'm genuinely sorry that this poll didn't offer the option of expressing approval of the expiration on principle, or approving it because, dammit, it's time to take a stand, or for any other reason. I hope a better poll tests all the possible responses. And I know that the response to this will go in the usual circles: anti-Obamaites will say Obama muddied the message by cutting a sellout deal with hostage-takers, while Obama backers will say that progressives are leading a crusade the point of which is misunderstood by the public because of inadequate attention to messaging. In any case, it's clear from this poll that the public isn't spontaneously grasping the blameworthiness of the GOP.