Action to avert shutdown breaks by party

WASHINGTON, April 7 (UPI) -- Democrats want their U.S. congressional leaders to compromise to get a budget deal, but Republicans want GOP leaders to stand firm, an NBC News poll indicates.

The NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll released Wednesday indicates 68 percent of self-identified Democrats and 76 percent of independents said they want Democratic leaders in Congress to make compromises to reach consensus in the spending debate that could result in a government shutdown Friday.

By comparison, 56 percent of self-identified Republicans and 68 percent of Tea Party activists said they want GOP leaders to hold fast to their position demanding large budget cuts, the poll said. Sixty-six percent of independents said they want GOP leaders in the House and Senate to compromise.

If the federal government shuts down, the poll indicated blame could be spread around. A plurality of 37 percent say they would blame congressional Republicans, 20 percent say they would blame President Barack Obama and 20 percent would blame congressional Democrats. Seventeen percent said everyone shares the blame and 2 percent say they would blame both Obama and congressional Democrats.

Pollsters said 19 percent of respondents said they thought a shutdown would occur.

Obama's approval rating in the latest NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll was 49 percent, up 1 point from the last survey, pollsters said. Forty-five percent said they disapprove of the job the president is doing.

Results are based on nationwide telephone interviews with 1,000 adults March 31-April 4. The margin of error is 3.1 percentage points.