BURYING THE LEDE ON THAT REUTERS/IPSOS POLL

Maybe "burying the lede" isn't quite the phrase I'm looking for, but it sure seems as if only some of what's significant in the poll is being talked about.

"Debt ceiling poll: Voters with Obama," Politico says. "Reuters/Ipsos poll: Give us a balanced debt deal," Kos's Joan McCarter says. Yes, that's true -- 56% want a mixed approach and only 19% want a cuts-only approach.

But here's what seems significant -- and really disheartening -- to me in the poll:

The Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 31 percent of respondents held Republican lawmakers responsible for the debt impasse, 21 percent blamed Obama and 9 percent blamed Democratic lawmakers.

So 31% blame Republicans ... and 30% blame Democrats. Oh, great.

Wait, it gets worse:

Along those lines, 29 percent said Republican lawmakers should give the most ground in the negotiations, a quarter said Obama should and a fifth said Democrats should.

So 45% want Democrats to compromise the most and only 29% say the same about Republicans?

And:

People who identified themselves as political independents, who Obama needs to win re-election, tended to side with the Republicans. The poll found that 29 percent of independents said Obama should give the most ground in the negotiations, while 13 percent said Republicans should.

If this poll is accurate, it's awful. It confirms my worst fears -- Republicans defy the will of the people and engage in extreme recklessness, Democrats scramble to try to meet Republicans' demands ... and Democrats get most of the blame.