Independents and moderates get it, Republicans are trying to sabotage the economy for partisan gain

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Wow.

Independents and moderates are often wishy-washy and clueless, but it seems they actually see, and obviously disapprove of, what Republicans are up to:

Ever since Obama began aggressively calling out the GOP for obstructing his jobs policies, insisting that Republicans are "putting party before country," pundits have ominously warned that he risks alienating the middle of the country with such a stark, partisan and finger-pointing message.

But the new Post poll finds that independents and moderates essentially accept Obama's diagnosis of what's going on — majorities of both groups agree that Republicans are blocking Obama's good faith efforts to fix the economy for political reasons.

Greg Sargent concludes:

And so, a question. We now know that Americans — particularly the middle of the road ones voters who are supposed to be alienated by this kind of talk — are receptive to the argument that Republicans are blocking Obama's efforts at fixing the economy for political reasons. For all their very real disapproval of Obama, they think one party is acting in good faith to fix the economy, and the other isn't. So when is the national political press going to start seriously covering this aspect of the debate?

Ummm... never? Because that would actually mean reporting what's going on and being honest about the GOP. If you expect that from the national media, otherwise known as the conduit of Republican-approved narratives, you might as well put all your money on the Colts to win the Super Bowl.

(Benen has more: "It's easy to imagine the sabotage question undermining Republican support in 2012, but it's clearly not automatic. The more Democrats push the question into the public bloodstream, and get voters thinking about the impact of GOP tactics, the better it will be for Dems' electoral efforts.)