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