AFL-CIO pollster Guy Molyneux told reporters this morning that last night’s election shows that attacking the Republican Party for opposing raising taxes on high earners has turned the entire issue of taxes around.
“One thing that became very clear in the data and in other outcomes last night, American voters were saying — for the first time really in my memory — that Democrats had won on the tax issue. What had been the most important issue for Republicans for over a generation now, the issue of taxes, worked to the benefit of the Democrats,” Molyneux said.
He pointed to results from their poling showing that 62 percent agreed with the statement: “We should make sure that the wealthy start paying their fair share of taxes.” Only 33 percent agreed with the statement: “We should reduce tax rates on taxpayers of all income levels.”
His poll also found that by a 55 to 38 percent margin, voters wanted to end the George W. Bush tax cuts for people with annual incomes above $250,000.
If this argument borne out by other data, it would represent quite a coup for the left. Taxes have long been an issue that put Democrats on the defensive. Changing that would present quite a quandary for Republicans.
