Obama Voters Divided Over How to Cut Deficit

Voters who supported President Barack Obama are evenly split over how to reduce the $1.1 trillion budget deficit, according to a poll conducted for the moderate Democratic think tank Third Way.

A total of 41 percent of Obama backers favor slashing the deficit mostly by cutting spending, with limited tax increases. Another 41 percent favor mostly tax increases with limited spending cuts.

Meanwhile, 85 percent want to see higher taxes for the wealthy, one of Obama’s principal budget goals. But 80 percent strongly believe that both Democrats and Republicans need to make real compromises to truly shrink the deficit.

“They [Obama’s supporters] want him to take on and solve the big issues, but they want him to do it in a pragmatic way and they trust him to compromise,” Lanae Erickson Hatalsky, director of Third Way’s social policy and politics program, told Politico. “He won not because he appealed to the ideological wings, but because he wooed voters in the middle.”

Still, 40 percent of respondents said they are more concerned that Obama will sign on to a deficit deal that lops off too much spending, topping the 31 percent who worry he won’t adequately curb the deficit.

A total of 39 percent believe Obama will give Republicans too much to ensure a deal, while 28 percent maintain he will be too stubborn to reach a solution.