a weak vote for mutual responsibility

Republicans and Dems are at loggerheads over the budget and, playing a game of chicken, may land us with a government shut-down this week.

Both sides are banking on the other party getting the blame if government grinds to a halt. But a new WaPo/Pew poll suggests that neither side would come out unscathed. Predictably 75% of conservatives would fault Democrats and 75% of liberals would blame the GOP. Independents, whose votes are the ones that count, split their disappointment somewhat evenly down the line - 37% faulting Obama and 32% Republicans.

Depressingly, mutual responsibility got the least support. Only 17% of Americans polled thought the two parties should share blame if the government shuts down. This is sad news for compromise. If fewer than one out of five Americans believe that both parties need to cooperate to make sure that government works, where's the incentive for parties to work together?