I’m really angry: Democrats are counting on angry voters in New Hampshire

MANCHESTER, N.H. – The longest government shutdown in history may finally be over, but the Democratic Party is just beginning to take into account angry voters who are sick and tired of seeing them lose to President Donald Trump.

Their frustrations were particularly evident in New Hampshire, a state represented by two moderate Democrats in the Senate who helped reach a deal with Republicans that funded the government in exchange for essentially nothing. New Hampshire residents who spoke to News themezone this week said they felt demoralized by their surrender and called for new blood to carry the torch into the future.

“It’s like trying to support a sports team that continues to be applauded,” Becky Franks, a retired New Market school principal, lamented Wednesday.

“I’m really angry with [Sen. Jeanne] Shaheen and [Sen. Maggie] Hassan,” added Rosemary Stewart, a retired social worker in Merrimack, of her two senators. “They did what Democrats always do: They caved and showed Trump he could get his way.”

The anger is clearly reminiscent of the disillusionment Republicans faced during the Tea Party era a decade ago, although it is too early to say what it will mean for the party’s electoral chances. As angry as voters are with Democrats, they are even more so with Trump, a dynamic that helped the party achieve big victories in Virginia and New Jersey earlier this month. However, in the short term, the current discontent could lead to another government shutdown early next year.

“The effects are not just for the poor. It’s going to increase everyone’s insurance across the board,” Anne Stowe, a retired New Market teacher, said of the health care protections that are about to expire. “I think we really have to fight for that. And if, in January, we have to say we need them, I think we should do another shutdown.”

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The deal that funds the government through Jan. 30 was backed by eight Senate Democrats and included a vote next month on extending enhanced subsidies for people enrolled in the Affordable Care Act. However, that vote is expected to fail due to Republican opposition to anything having to do with Obamacare. Instead, Trump and Republican lawmakers are pitching an alternative plan that would replace subsidies with flexible spending accounts, which health care experts say could threaten to upend Obamacare’s health insurance markets.

Democrats have vowed to keep fighting over ACA subsidies, and some lawmakers on both sides of the shutdown debate have kept the door open to another fight in January.

“I guess my question is: What happens at the end of January? Are we going to sign another two- or three-month temporary budget that does nothing on health care or democracy?” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said in an interview with News themezone.

Murphy, a progressive Democrat, opposed the deal negotiated by his moderate colleagues for weeks. He lost that fight in the Senate, but now he is taking his message to New Hampshire, a state that is in the early stages of the presidential primary. And he’s not the only one: Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), another potential presidential contender, will also hold a town hall here on Friday.

“We could decide to continue increasing leverage and hold the line in January,” Murphy said. “The only thing I’m worried about is that we’re getting into a pattern where Republicans are able to get a small number of Democratic votes and we end up getting very little to protect our democracy.”

Shaheen, who led talks with Republicans, also didn’t rule out a second shutdown, telling News themezone earlier this week that “it’s certainly an option that I think everyone will consider.”

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Denying government funding again would be a risky strategy for Democrats. Trump and his Republican allies on Capitol Hill now believe all they have to do is block funding for programs that support vulnerable Americans, such as federal food assistance, and wait for Democrats to succumb to pressure.

Additionally, a significant portion of the Senate Democratic caucus opposes the tactic of holding funding hostage and would like to go ahead and blame high health care costs on Trump, who has been struggling to address affordability as voter concerns with the economy rise and his poll numbers plummet.

“We need to deal with it, but a shutdown, with all the pain it is causing to the very people we want to help, is simply not the place to do it,” said Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), who is part of the Democrats. wrote in an opinion piece published on Thursday. “Can we pass a bill next month that expands tax credits? It’s going to take a tough negotiation and it’s not a sure thing, but at least now there’s a chance where there wasn’t before. And in the meantime, the kids will be fed.”

As much as most Democrats would like to forget this entire episode as quickly as possible and unite their party against Trump, they must first assure skeptical voters that they are prepared to lead their opposition. Murphy attempted to do so at a pair of public events on Wednesday, even though he was not one of the Democratic senators who supported the deal. He received a reprimand anyway.

“Does the Senate Democratic Caucus fundamentally underestimate the courage and capability of the American people?” a Granite State resident named Jason asked Murphy at his town hall in Manchester, adding that he feels “like the party is failing him.”

Another woman told Murphy that her party should make room for younger voices.

“The message we’re hearing is that we shouldn’t speak ill of the Democratic Party because we don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater,” he said. “Maybe it’s time to throw away the baby and maybe it’s time to have a new baby.”

Other attendees who showed up to hear Murphy at an event in Concord questioned his party’s strategy that led to the shutdown and the decisions of Senate leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). Schumer opposed the deal, but he is the main culprit anyway. Some Democrats believe he had a hand in helping make it a reality.

“That’s something that should have been thought of from the beginning,” Chris Roehrer, a retired Hopkinton corporate attorney, told News themezone. “Continuing for so long and then giving in is just a lack of planning, or a lack of courage, I don’t know.”

Democrats were anything but united before the shutdown. Shaheen and Hassan opposed their party’s strategy to deny funding for ACA subsidies, demanding a last minute intervention by his colleagues on the Senate floor, as News themezone reported earlier this week.

Murphy on Wednesday sidestepped repeated questions about Schumer’s fate, including from a Republican campaign tracker seeking to stir up trouble over the dispute, while calling for “firmer” leadership in the Senate. He argument that Democrats should adopt more agile tactics and clearer messaging to counter Trump.

“We have to be better,” Murphy said. “[Schumer’s] You know, he has an opportunity, and his leadership team has an opportunity, to show that we can repair the damage we have done to our cause.”

“Every day gives us more material to expose who he is,” he said, turning to Trump. “What does he spend all his time on these days? Building a dance hall and trying to cover up child sexual predation. So we need to keep the focus on him, on his corruption, on his massive transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich middle class, while at the same time trying to work to make our opposition more effective.”