Lawmakers hopeful Election Day will be turning point in the shutdown fight |
Lawmakers in both parties are hopeful that Tuesday’s elections will be the jolt needed for either Democrats or Republicans to shift their shutdown strategy.
The elections arrive as the pain of the shutdown intensifies across the country, but lawmakers in both parties acknowledge that no deal can be finalized until the contests are no longer hanging over their heads.
Some Democrats say a wide margin of victory could push Republicans to negotiate on their health care demands. Republicans, meanwhile, are largely blaming Democrats for looking to the elections as an inflection point, while also hoping a closer-than-expected results could convince Democrats that voters aren’t behind them and push them to vote “yes” on a stopgap spending bill.
"Nothing's going to happen until after Tuesday. Everybody's waiting. ... That'll be the catalyst of like, ‘Ok, what's the next thing?’ And it'll put people in a different place,” said a Democratic strategist who spoke anonymously to discuss a sensitive topic.
Both parties are eyeing gubernatorial elections in Virginia — home to 140,000 federal employees — and New Jersey, as well as the New York City mayoral election and a redistricting measure on the ballot in California. The overall results will shed light onto the........