Democrats’ Strategy Crashes and Burns
Democrats across the country are hosting phony town hall protests funded by far-left activist groups. But according to new reports, these productions have backfired as Democrats “took incoming from their exasperated constituents when they traveled home to host town halls.”
“Desperate Democrats scrambled to stage political theatre, determined to distract from their failed record and crumbling brand. Now their ‘strategy’ is backfiring, and even Democrat voters aren’t buying what they’re selling.” — NRCC Spokeswoman Emily Tuttle
Read more from Politico here or see excerpts below.
Dems expected to skewer GOP cuts at town halls. Instead they faced angry constituents.
Politco
Ally Mutnick and Brakkton Booker
March 19, 2025
Congressional Democrats — who were hoping to blast Republicans over budget cuts — instead took incoming from their exasperated constituents when they traveled home to host town halls.
[…]
And those reactions were relatively mild compared to the scene that played out in the Washington suburbs Tuesday night when Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) held a town hall.
“You’re not fighting!” one woman shouted from the balcony, before being escorted out. “We are suffering!”
[…]
Two local progressive groups organized “empty chair” town halls to be held later this week in the districts of Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who both helped enact Republicans’ spending bill.
At the town halls that Democrats did hold, plenty of attendees expressed frustration with Trump, Musk and the GOP-controlled Congress. But voters also critiqued the Democratic party, according to a review of video, audio and local news reports of town halls in Arizona, Oregon, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Illinois and Vermont.
If Democrats were wondering where their 2017-era grassroots resistance army had gone, they’ve found their answer. Schumer’s willingness to vote with Republicans to advance a spending bill — and avoid a shutdown — has enraged the Democratic faithful not just in Washington, but across the nation. The blast radius is spreading throughout the party, far beyond Schumer.
[…]
That is far from a consensus view within the party. Democratic strategist Aisha Mills suggested the lingering anguish over the funding measure exposed a widening gap between elected officials and the activist base.
“He didn’t have the fight that we really as Democrats wanted and needed him to as a leader,” Mills said of Schumer. “It felt like a bit of a cop out.”