If this Gallup poll is accurate, Republicans have the upper hand in the debt ceiling debate.
With the budget, Democrats can demagogue specific line items to attack budget cuts. As Milton Friedman famously pointed out, special interests are more passionate about protecting their specific perks than the general interests are about cutting them all. But with the debt ceiling there are no specific items to demagogue; the debate is on general terms, which favors fiscal conservatives.
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