Could the possibility of a government shutdown be good for President Obama?
If it's anything like the partial shutdown of 1995-96, the answer is yes.
This MSNBC story looks back at how the events of the 90s shutdown of the federal government still haunts Republicans, as President Bill Clinton was able to "recast House Republicans as stubborn partisans, not savvy insurgents."
This is a pretty easy story to do some localization on:
• Talk to a political science professor on who would win, who would lose this time around, if a government shutdown were to occur? Anything different at stake this time around?
• What do your representatives in Washington, D.C. have to say about the possibility? Get them on record. If two sides disagree, which is pretty likely, this could make a good "two sides to the issue" feature for your opinion page.
• The MSNBC story says the military would stay active and interstate highways wouldn't shut down. However, some federal workers would clearly be impacted. Are there any federal employees in your community or region? Are they concerned? Or do they just take this stuff in stride?
• This would be a good and timely poll question this week.
Could the possibility of a government shutdown be good for President Obama?
If it's anything like the partial shutdown of 1995-96, the answer is yes.
This MSNBC story looks back at how the events of the 90s shutdown of the federal government still haunts Republicans, as President Bill Clinton was able to "recast House Republicans as stubborn partisans, not savvy insurgents."
This is a pretty easy story to do some localization on:
• Talk to a political science professor on who would win, who would lose this time around, if a government shutdown were to occur? Anything different at stake this time around?
• What do your representatives in Washington, D.C. have to say about the possibility? Get them on record. If two sides disagree, which is pretty likely, this could make a good "two sides to the issue" feature for your opinion page.
• The MSNBC story says the military would stay active and interstate highways wouldn't shut down. However, some federal workers would clearly be impacted. Are there any federal employees in your community or region? Are they concerned? Or do they just take this stuff in stride?
• This would be a good and timely poll question this week.
