"N.C. lawmaker gets an earful from conservative voters
LINCOLNTON, N.C. — Patrick McHenry’s loudest constituents have no desire to see conciliation on gridlocked Capitol Hill, unless it comes from President Obama and his fellow Democrats.
As the Republican congressman holds public question-and-answer sessions with constituents during Congress’s summer break, conservatives and GOP loyalists who enjoy significant influence in his western North Carolina district are demanding that he and his House colleagues defund ‘‘Obamacare,’’ refuse to raise the nation’s debt limit, and generally intensify opposition to the White House and Senate majority leader Harry Reid.
Congress has abysmal approval ratings, and polls suggest that most voters want the divided government to seek out compromise. Yet the no-holds-barred attitude on display here — and elsewhere as other House Republicans hold town-hall style gatherings — offers an ominous forecast of the legislative battles ahead this fall and underscores how little political incentive many Republicans have to reach common ground on issues ranging from immigration to the budget.
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Related: The Boston Globe's August Town Hall Meeting
Also see: N. Carolina enacts voter ID law, setting stage for fight
Related: Cast Your Vote on These Supreme Court Decisions
Sunday Globe Special: Carving Up North Carolina
