MANCHESTER, N.H. ― Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) had plenty of criticism for his party following the shutdown cave that sparked a backlash against Democratic leadership in the Senate, threatening to spoil their momentum going into next year’s midterm elections.
Appearing at a town hall in the early presidential primary state of New Hampshire on Wednesday, the progressive senator said his fellow Democrats need to change their tactics, messaging and general approach to President Donald Trump to win in the future.
“Our job right now is to fight,” Murphy declared at an event hosted by the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, a venue frequented by candidates of both parties who are testing the presidential waters.
“We have to show people who they are and who we are, and it does involve a level of fight and sometimes a level of confrontation that can be uncomfortable,” he added.
Murphy said Democrats hurt themselves by relying on overwrought, consultant-driven messaging, including on significant pieces of legislation passed under President Joe Biden that the party believed would help carry it to victory in the 2024 presidential election. He pointed to the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which allowed Medicare to negotiate prices for some prescription drugs, as one key example.
