Government Shutdown May Benefit GOP

Much of the Washington punditry has argued that a government shutdown will backfire to hurt Republicans, just as it did in 1995. But that may not be the case, Politico reports.

“Times have changed. President Barack Obama is no Bill Clinton, House Speaker John Boehner is no Newt Gingrich,” the news service points out. Newly-elected Republicans ran on a platform of spending cuts, and they’re proving to be true to their word.

Democrats, meanwhile, have shown reluctance to cut anything. So it’s Democrats who may suffer in the court of public opinion if the government shuts down.

“The context is dramatically different,” former Rep. Bill Paxon, R-N.Y., who was a key Gingrich ally. “We didn’t run on an agenda of the kind of fiscal reform that the Republicans talked about last November. I don’t think anybody is surprised or taken aback by the fiscal agenda that congressional Republicans have pursued.”