“‘It’s a big test for the leadership. We cannot listen to the loudest, shrillest voices in our party,’ said Rep. Charlie Dent, a moderate Republican who represents the Philadelphia exurbs. ‘At some point we have to fund the government, and we should not fight to attach some demand. I don’t want to stand by and watch as our party gets driven into a ditch.'”
Many pundits (including those of us on The Times’ editorial board) have argued that voters have been sending an increasingly clear message in recent elections that they’re tired of gamesmanship and dysfunction in Congress. But this year, voters also uttered a loud, collective raspberry at Obama, backing candidates in major races across the country whose campaigns did little more than denounce the White House.
Lawmakers now have the chance to demonstrate what message they took from the elections.
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