Frustrated Democrats push for 'wartime leaders' at Bakersfield town hall

BAKERSFIELD — Erlinda Carrillo is already exhausted by the first two months of President Donald Trump’s second term.

Her daughter lost her job at a scientific research institute after the Trump administration canceled its government contract. She’s worried layoffs at the Department of Veterans Affairs will affect care for her brother, a Vietnam War veteran. And she’s concerned about her Social Security benefits amid cost-cutting at the Social Security Administration.

“I’m tired of all of the backlash that we’re actually getting due to Donald Trump,” she said.

Carillo and her husband, Mitch, went looking for inspiration in the gym of a Bakersfield community center, where Rep. Ro Khanna held a town hall meeting on Sunday — hundreds of miles from his Silicon Valley district.

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It was part of a day-long barnstorming tour of meetings in three districts represented by California Republicans for Khanna, a Democrat. (The other rallies were in the Inland Empire district of Rep. Ken Calvert and the Orange County district of Rep. Young Kim.) Khanna mocked Republicans for not holding in-person town halls and denounced the GOP budget framework that could set the table for cuts to Medicaid.

He also got a taste of the rising frustration among Democratic voters who have criticized party leaders for lacking vitality and vision in their response to Trump.

Dispirited Democrats made up much of the crowd in Bakersfield. They reserved particular criticism for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who led nine Democrats in voting for a Republican-authored budget resolution in order to avoid a government shutdown earlier this month.

“When is the Democratic Party going to set aside its peacetime leaders and bring up some wartime leaders?” Darren Bly asked Khanna. “Because that’s what we need.”

Khanna reiterated his stance that the party’s “old guard needs to step aside,” and said, “If the party is letting us down, it’s time to rebuild the party.”

“If you are not fighting and marching and organizing, then you don’t understand the moment,” he continued. “We need Democratic leaders who are going to be with the people in the fight.”

A recent NBC poll found that 20% of Democratic voters have negative views of the party. And unlike in 2017, when most Democratic voters hoped their party would pursue compromise and consensus in Congress, the survey found 65% of Democratic voters want House Democrats to stick to their positions, even if it leads to gridlock in Washington.

“That’s what we want to see,” said Mitch Carillo, pointing to Khanna as he paced the makeshift stage answering questions. “They were mentioning the old guard in the Democratic Party and they’ve done some really great things, but it’s time to step aside and let’s let this younger generation come in and see what they can do.”

“Because the Republicans aren’t playing fair, they’re not playing by the rule book, I mean, whatever it takes to win, they’ll do,” Carillo added. “The Democrats don’t have an answer for that. I think people like Ro Khanna do have an answer.”

In the short-term, Khanna is hoping strategic organizing efforts can strong-arm the Republican votes needed to block potential cuts to Medicaid, which covers healthcare for Americans with low incomes, disabilities or who live in nursing homes. His choice of the 22nd District was no accident: Two-thirds of residents receive health coverage through Medicaid, according to the California Budget & Policy Center.

“We need three Republicans — three Republicans — to prevent the cuts to Medicaid,” Khanna told the crowd on Sunday.

Dawna Sodders-Simpson holds up a sign for the area's congressional representative at a town hall held by Khanna.

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The district’s representative, David Valadao, said in a speech on the House floor last month that he has heard from many constituents “who tell me the only way they can afford healthcare is through programs like Medicaid.”

“I will not support a final reconciliation bill that risks leaving them behind,” he said.

As part of a budget roadmap that will allow the party to renew their 2017 tax cut law, Republicans set a target of $880 billion in cuts to programs under the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. An analysis released by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that it would be impossible for Republicans to achieve that benchmark without cutting Medicaid, which accounts for $8.2 trillion of the $8.8 trillion in spending under that committee’s jurisdiction.

Russell Paul, a doctor in Bakersfield, said it would be heartbreaking if cuts led to patients not being able to afford care.

Paul, who was invited to the town hall by a coworker, heaped his own share of criticism on the Democratic Party.

“When we get young people like [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] or very progressive people like Bernie Sanders speaking truth to power, we try to marginalize them so we seem more mainstream,” he said. “This is sort of my start in becoming more active and trying to push back against what’s going on in our country.”