By 2-1 margin, Minnesotans blame GOP for shutdown

MinnPost's first poll fills a void in the local media, finally asking the question "who do you blame for the shutdown?" 42% of those polled blame the Republican-led Legislature, 21% blame DFL Governor Mark Dayton. Even worse for Minnesota Republicans? Independent voters were even more likely to blame them.

But the key swing group of self-identified independents was also much more likely to blame Republicans than to blame Dayton. Among independents, 46 percent "blamed" the Republicans, 18 percent blamed Dayton and 25 percent both.

And this leads to the bottom line: because of the shutdown, those polled are less likely to vote for Republicans in 2012.

The MinnPost poll asked Minnesotans whether the shutdown will make them more likely to vote for Republicans or for Democrats in 2012, or whether the shutdown will not affect their vote either way. The results:

More likely to vote for the Repubs: 17 percent

More likely to vote for the Dems: 30 percent.

Won't affect my vote: 42 percent.

No opinion: 11 percent.

By the way, I mentioned this is MinnPost's first poll. They're seeking donations to help defray the expense and to allow them to do more polling in the future. I think it's valuable to have more media organizations gauging public opinion, so I plan to make a donation. I hope you'll consider doing the same.

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