The Democrats learned that while the public’s top concern is improving the economy, more voters view cutting spending rather than investing as the best way to do so. And right now, they trust Republicans more to do the trimming.

These views were pronounced among independents, whose support Democrats will need in 2012 to hold the Senate, recapture the House and keep President Barack Obama in office…

The message for Democrats, Garin said in an interview, is that their dispute with Republicans “can’t be framed as a debate between dealing with the deficit and not dealing with the deficit.” Democrats “have to make sure that this is posed in terms of the right way and the wrong way” to reduce the deficit “in a way that won’t harm the economy,” he said.