Lest anyone think Republicans secretly harbor hopes for a U.S. government shutdown when the annual budget money runs out on Sept. 30, Rep. Adam Putnam has a word of advice.

“It’s like breakdancing around nitroglycerin. You’re just not sure who it’s going to go off on,” the Florida Republican said. The usually quiet, straight-laced, red-headed conservative admitted he has tried the hip hop style of dancing, but said he’s never done it near explosives.

Congress has yet to enact any of the dozen spending bills that will keep the bureaucracy running past Sept. 30 as President George W. Bush and Democrats fight over how much to spend on domestic programs. 

Putnam suggested an all out showdown that forces a government shutdown is not likely to play well with the public already disgusted with its political leaders.

“Eleven percent versus 29 percent is not exactly clash of the titans,” he said, referring to the Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday showing that Congress is even more disliked than the president.

Democrats also are loathe to force a government shutdown. House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt, a South Carolina Democrat, said it’s not good politics.

Harking back to the 1980s, Spratt said, “Reagan used to say, ‘What if we shut down government and find out nobody misses it.?’ Republicans would titter-tatter and laugh. Then, by golly, they shut down government and nobody was laughing.”

–Reporting by Donna Smith and Richard Cowan

–Photo credit: Max Morse; Actor Jamie Kennedy breakdances at a Los Angeles party.