Tax Overhaul Gains Public Support, Buoying Republicans
The bill that passed is the bill that polled at 35 percent in December, and Democrats should keep talking about that.”
The Times polling suggests that Americans are overestimating the degree to which the benefits of the law’s corporate tax cuts
are flowing straight to workers — while underestimating the likelihood that the law will reduce their individual taxes.
“This isn’t a problem yet for Democrats, but the movement isn’t a positive one.”
Other recent polls have shown similar upswings for the law, including a Monmouth University Poll in late January
that found support for it had risen to 44 percent nationally, from 26 percent in December.
Still, support has grown even among Democrats, from 8 percent just before the bill passed in December to 19 percent this month.
“There is no question the tax bill has fundamentally improved the overall political environment for Republicans,” said Josh Holmes, a former campaign manager
and chief of staff for Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, who is now president of the public affairs firm Cavalry in Washington.
Erin Parker, a high school history teacher in San Antonio, said she did not like many elements of the law, particularly its big reduction of the estate tax,
and said she was skeptical that it would provide much of an economic lift.
But Ms. Parker, who described herself as an independent who tends to support Democrats,
said the bill would probably help the technology start-up where her husband works.