… Healthcare reform and keeping the government open might be related in the mind of GOP members of Congress, but they are not linked in the public’s mind. This is part of the reason voters oppose the Republican linkage strategy, even though many share doubts about ObamaCare. …
Linking disparate issues has a venerated history in legislative politics. Sometimes it is used to fashion compromise, adding sweeteners to broaden the appeal of otherwise doomed legislation. Other times, legislators use the tactic to pass pet provisions that would not garner sufficient support on their own.
Usually these tactics remain unnoticed by the public. That does not mean voters approve of the approach. They don’t. And when the tactic becomes the strategy in a high-profile debate, as it has during the GOP shutdown and debt-limit debacles, expect voters to rebel, as they have. [cont.]
Mark Mellman (Mellman Group), The Hill