How budget battles in Congress are killing the GOP's image

New polls show that voters largely disapprove of the GOP's handling of the fiscal cliff

Mitch McConnell
(Image credit: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

As the U.S. approaches a possible debt default in the next couple of months, Republican leaders say they have the edge to get President Obama to agree to significant spending cuts. "We have to use whatever leverage we have," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) recently said. "The debt ceiling is one of them that hopefully would get the president engaged." However, new polls suggest that the GOP may want to think twice before it tries to strong-arm the president: Voters overwhelmingly disapprove of the GOP's handling of the fiscal-cliff talks.

According to a poll conducted by Pew, 48 percent of Americans approved of Obama's approach to the negotiations that resulted in an extension of the Bush tax cuts for all but the wealthiest Americans, while 40 percent disapproved. In contrast, a whopping 66 percent of voters disapproved of the performance of Republican leaders, compared with a paltry 19 percent who approved.

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Ryu Spaeth

Ryu Spaeth is deputy editor at TheWeek.com. Follow him on Twitter.