Dem Rep. Pingree on Voters Disapproving of Dems: ‘Democrats Are Doubling Down’, There Was a Shutdown

During an interview with ABC on Thursday, Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) responded to polling showing that a strong majority of Americans disapprove of Democrats in Congress by saying that it’s because people are frustrated with the government and “We were shut down for over 40 days. Now the Republicans are blocking these healthcare tax credits and people are facing huge crisis back at home worrying about whether or not they’ll even have healthcare covered or whether they can afford to have it in the future. So, Democrats are doubling down.”

Host Alex Presha asked, “We’ve got new polling out from Quinnipiac that shows that nearly three-quarters of Americans disapprove of the job that Democrats are doing in Congress. I’m curious, is this cause for concern ahead of the midterm elections?”

Pingree responded, “Well, look, I’m an elected official, we are always concerned about how the public views our work and we do our best to stay in touch with them as much as we possibly can. I think that’s very reflective of the fact that people have just thrown up their hands and said, why doesn’t government get anything done? And it is very frustrating. We were shut down for over 40 days. Now the Republicans are blocking these healthcare tax credits and people are facing huge crisis back at home worrying about whether or not they’ll even have healthcare covered or whether they can afford to have it in the future. So, Democrats are doubling down. I think we’ve really put our message forward in this healthcare fight and said, we’re willing to stay here. We’ve got this discharge petition that we were able to move forward on the floor. We’re using every strategy that we can. So, we can’t take anything for granted. But if they’re worried about the Democrats, they are extremely worried about the president. And he presents such a chaotic mess. I don’t think the Republicans are going to do well in the midterms. We just have to keep up the hard work.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett