NPR

Shutdown Question: Who's Out Of Touch With The American People?

Republicans and Democrats both claim the public is on their side in the shutdown struggle. But they are really only listening to their own section of the choir.
The U.S. Capitol is seen reflected in the windows of the Capitol Visitors Center as lawmakers debated ahead of the government shutdown on Jan. 19.

Ask Republicans about Democrats, or vice versa, and sooner or later you will hear: "They're out of touch with the American people."

That statement was part of the soundtrack on Capitol Hill over the first weekend of the shutdown, repeated so often that one ceases to hear it.

It's an all-purpose way of condemning the hated "other" party. And it conveys the assumption that whoever is speaking is NOT out of touch with the American people.

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