We care about traffic, health care – not just impeachment – Washington voters say
“No one runs on a platform of wanting to impeach a president. They run on wanting to make a difference for their constituents.”
That’s how Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Washington, summed up the message a lot of the House’s centrist New Democrat Coalition, which he chairs, are trying to send these days: While we strongly support impeachment, we also realize constituents have other pressing issues they want to discuss.
Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Washington, finds all sorts of topics come in her town halls. At the U.S. Capitol this week, she teamed up with Kilmer to help outline an ambitious Democratic plan to improve the nation’s infrastructure.
“There are obvious projects that all of us can think of in our district that should have been done years ago,” she said.
Democrats all over the country are thinking that way. Particularly in swing districts, they say voters want to hear more about roads, health care and other day to day issues.
“In some ways there might be impeachment fatigue from some of the constituents. They seem more interested in talking about policy, drug pricing, infrastructure,” said Rep. Ami Bera, D-California.
“The people I work for are clearly more focused on water, health care, and jobs than impeachment – and so am I,” added Rep. Josh Harder, D-California.
That sort of empathy is particularly what vulnerable freshmen around the country are trying to show as Democrats fight to retain the House majority they won in 2018.
Republicans need a net gain of 18 seats to win the majority back, and Trump in 2016 won in 30 districts whose House seats are now held by Democrats.
None of those districts is in Washington, but their fate could decide whether its Democrats continue to chair committees and subcommittees. Currently, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Washington, heads the House Armed Services Committee and Kilmer chairs the committee on the modernization of Congress.
The “natural thing for the Republicans to do” in House races is to nationalize the House races and show that support of the GOP candidate is support for Trump, said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a nonpartisan elections newsletter based at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
Democrats, on the other hand, “will try to de-nationalize those races through talking about issues that aren’t directly tied to the president,” Kondik said..
Rep. TJ Cox, D-California, won his first term in 2018 with 50.4% over another Republican incumbent, Rep. David Valadao. Cox’s office has found that constituents tend to contact him about a variety of issues, with spikes occurring if something of special local interest is in the news.
This yen to tend to such constituents’ concerns is a point a lot of Democrats make. While virtually all support impeachment, and very much dislike Trump, they need to show they’re problem-solvers and good listeners, not political gladiators.
“Nancy (Pelosi, House speaker) has been extraordinarily brilliant in making sure that we can walk and chew gum at the same time,” said Rep. Salud Carbajal, a California Democrat whose central coastal district includes San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties.
Pelosi for some time has routinely begun news conferences by talking not about impeachment, but other topics such as efforts to curb prescription drug costs or boost infrastructure spending. She did so again Thursday, offering a lengthy description of Democrats’ plans.
A Gallup Poll taken Dec. 2-15 found that 35% of adults regard health care as an extremely important 2020 campaign issue, followed closely by terrorism and national security at 34%.
Kilmer, who won re-election in 2018 with 64% of the vote, understands. “I’m tired of sitting in traffic . I think a lot of our constituents and their families are tired of sitting in traffic,” he said.
“There are parts of my region where speed limit signs are only there for nostalgic purposes.”
Constituents do care deeply about impeachment. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, has found.
She said it was the number one topic in constituent contacts to her office, though the volume is not overwhelming.
“We’re getting a fair number of calls,” she told McClatchy. “Remember people are working ... and frankly they know how this is gonna end.”
So while it’s important to talk about impeachment back home, it’s also important to be sensitive to constituents’ everyday lives.
“The reality is our constituents want us to have accountable government,” Kilmer said, “and they want us to solve problems for them.”
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