Meeting the People Vol 33
This story about a Dem congressman in New York : I walked with Mr. Murphy one evening for nearly three hours as he campaigned door to door in in largely Democratic, vote-rich Levittown. A boyish-looking 36, Mr. Murphy displayed the enthusiasm and earnestness of an Eagle Scout. “I’m Patrick Murphy, the local congressman,” he said to whoever answered the door. He talked about the 3,000 jobs he had saved in the district, including many “green” and high-tech jobs of the future. The reception he got was eye-opening. The people Mr. Murphy encountered were angry, and none of them, as far as I could tell, were associated with the Tea Party movement. The very first voter he talked to that evening was a man in his mid-70s who said he had paid more than he expected for a recent hospital stay because of the health insurance reforms passed by Congress. Mr. Murphy told him he did not think that could possibly be the case and urged him to visit his district office so his staff could review the medical bills. “Sir, I’m doing my best. I really want to help you,” he said. It got him nowhere. “I think you’re all a bunch of sewer rats in Washington,” the man told him. There’s a lot of that kind of feeling toward Democrats this year. Even incumbent Republicans aren’t getting as much love as they’d like these days. Nearly all of them will win anyway, but the general mood toward Congress is pretty ugly.
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on October 9, 2010. Filed under