February 21, 2018
Democrats Don't Have a Messaging Problem on Tax Reform. They Have a Reality Problem.
by Guy Benson
Townhall.com
This is about as clean a political win as you're going to see these days, so Republicans are absolutely right to be pressing their advantage. They've earned it. They withstood weeks of withering and punishing demagoguery from Democrats and much of the press -- which also happened to be highly inaccurate and laughably hyperbolic -- and ultimately stuck together to pass a controversial and unpopular bill. The legislation would hurt the middle class and bring about the apocalypse, Democrats argued. Republicans countered that their plan would actually benefit the vast majority of American taxpayers and help US businesses. The Republicans were right. As people began to witness a parade of companies shelling out tax reform bonuses, stepping up employee benefits, boosting hourly wages, reducing prices for consumers, and expanding operations, support for the once-disliked law bounced dramatically, sailing 20 points northward across a swath of polling. Democrats' fear-mongering was being shredded in real time, by indisputable and unspinnable events.
But then the second shoe dropped: Tens of millions of workers looking at their paychecks and noticing a bump in their income, thanks to the very tax cuts Democrats insisted wouldn't help average people. The succeeding law's political opponents thus began desperately flailing, dismissing bonuses and wage increases as "crumbs" and even mocking lower-income workers for being so stupid as to appreciate their own modest tax breaks. The result, as Matt covered yesterday, has been another extraordinary surge in the new law's popularity:
Guy Benson
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@guypbenson
NYT polling: Support for new GOP tax law -- supported by 0 Congressional Dems -- has gained *26 net points* since the end of December, as reality refutes bogus attacks. Positive movement among all groups, but indies clearly central to new pro-tax reform majority:
7:32 PM - Feb 20, 2018
Republicans now strongly back the plan, with Democratic opposition softening noticeably, but the real story is independents -- whose support has spiked from the mid-30's to an outright majority. Overall, between December and January, favorable views of tax reform gained 18 net points in the New York Times' survey series. It jumped from deeply unfavorable to just shy of even. The new February poll shows a majority in support of the plan, representing a net jump of eight additional points. That's a massive 26-point swing in less than two months. And I'd note that people are still in the process of discovering their tax cuts. Even in this most recent Times survey, just 33 percent of respondents believe they'll see an income tax cut. The truth, determined by nonpartisan analyses is that the overwhelming majority of taxpayers will see a reduction this year. Some uncomfortable truths for each party:
Guy Benson
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@guypbenson
This NYT poll graphic is a warning to both parties: For GOP, despite messaging blitz, just 1/3 think they're getting a tax cut...real number is 80-90%. More work to do. For Dems, surge in support comes *despite* widespread misconception, being dispelled by bigger paychecks. pic.twitter.com/L4qIHg10A7
7:39 PM - Feb 20, 2018
http://twitter.com/guypbenson/status/966110056373719040/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftownhall.com%2Ftipsheet%2Fguybenson%2F2018%2F02%2F21%2Fvictory-lap-republicans-rubbing-democrats-noses-in-opposition-to-nowpopular-tax-reform-n2451910
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