As shutdown drags on, US voters see blame game threatening Democrats and Republicans By Reuters
Key Takeaways
- A government shutdown is causing concern among both Democratic and Republican canvassers in Virginia Beach regarding the potential negative impact on their parties' electoral messaging.
- The Hampton Roads area, home to numerous military installations, faces severe economic risk from a prolonged shutdown due to its reliance on federal and civil service jobs.
- Both canvassers worry that voters might eventually prioritize the economic damage over their respective parties' core policy demands driving the shutdown.
- Public opinion surveys suggest that while blame is shared, a larger portion of the public currently faults Republicans for initiating or sustaining the shutdown.
- The shutdown is already becoming a central issue in Virginia's state-level elections, with candidates using it to attack opponents on economic management and deal-making.
In Virginia Beach, a Democratic and a Republican canvasser stood at an early voting center, embodying the national partisan split exacerbated by a government shutdown, yet they shared a mutual anxiety over the political fallout. Both worried that a protracted shutdown would severely damage the local economy, which is heavily dependent on military installations and federal jobs in the Hampton Roads area, potentially causing voters to shift focus away from their parties' central policy demands. The 84-year-old Democrat feared her party would appear weak if they conceded, while the Republican counterpart worried a long shutdown could hurt her party in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections due to local job impacts. This shared concern is echoed by public opinion polls, which indicate that while many blame both sides, a plurality currently holds Republicans more culpable for the shutdown. The economic impact is already being leveraged in state-level races, with Democrats running ads highlighting the potential damage and contrasting the situation with the previous administration.
