Blumenthal hits populist notes in New Haven town hall meeting Blumenthal to be ‘relentless’ against Trump administration

Peter Bunzl (center) of Oxford displays a sign opposing President Donald Trump during a Town Hall meeting with U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal at Wilbur Cross High School in New Haven on Feb. 25, 2017. Peter Bunzl (center) of Oxford displays a sign opposing President Donald Trump during a Town Hall meeting with U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal at Wilbur Cross High School in New Haven on Feb. 25, 2017. Photo: Arnold Gold-New Haven Register Photo: Arnold Gold-New Haven Register Image 1 of / 21 Caption Close Blumenthal hits populist notes in New Haven town hall meeting 1 / 21 Back to Gallery

NEW HAVEN >> U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal concluded a town hall meeting at Wilbur Cross High School Saturday by acknowledging the changing political climate.

“I need to up my game in this new era,” he said, promising to follow up with dozens of constituents unable to ask questions after a community forum lasting approximately two hours.

Blumenthal received an overwhelmingly warm welcome from the crowd filling the Cross auditorium, with many of his statements punctuated by cheers and applause. Virtually every sign in the crowd bore a message of opposing President Donald Trump — following themes of resistance and impeachment against the president or showing support for the Affordable Care Act.

Although Blumenthal flaunted his resume from his days as attorney general of Connecticut and his track record defending Planned Parenthood from being defunded in the Senate — the two responses that drew the loudest applause from the audience — he also spoke of the importance of grassroots organizing.

“I will determine what is our strategy — not my strategy, but our strategy — and it will take a strategy determined not from top down, not from the so-called leaders; it’s going to take a DNC chairman and leaders who are willing to listen and develop it from the bottom up, from the grassroots,” he said. “It should come from the bottom up, and it’s not going to happen overnight.”

Blumenthal said that to make that happen, there would need to be campaign finance reform to “give equal voice to the people knocking on doors” and “reduce the corruption in our system.”

Blumenthal named Bernie Sanders specifically, the U.S. Senator from Vermont who saw a swell in support during the Democratic presidential primary with a democratic socialist, populist message, which drew applause from many in the audience.

Regarding campaign finance reform, most everyone at the town hall seemed unaware that merely an hour earlier, the DNC voted down a resolution to reinstate former President Barack Obama’s ban on corporate donations to the party. If Blumenthal was aware, he made no indication of it. Blumenthal also dodged a question on his preference between U.S. Rep Keith Ellison and former Labor Secretary Tom Perez for chairman of the DNC, saying he is not a voting member of the DNC and knew only Perez personally.

“I will support whoever is chair of the DNC and whoever fights for working people and unionizing our party so we can take back the White House in 2020,” he said.

Shortly after Blumenthal answered the question, Perez won on a second ballot.

Fielding several questions from constituents worried about the potential loss of health care, Blumenthal also advocated for one of Sanders’s key differences from eventual Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton: single-payer health care.

Although Blumenthal frequently advocated for preserving the Affordable Care Act, which is not a single-payer system, he said he would like to see Medicare expanded so that it becomes a single-payer system.

William Woermer, of Branford, clutching a sign identifying him as part of the “silent majority” supporting Trump, challenged Blumenthal on various “sanctuary city” policies within the state, mentioning Oscar Hernandez, a Bridgeport man suspected in the homicide who was deported in 2013.

“We should be prioritizing what the problems are, not engaging in mass detention, mass arrests, building hugely expensive new prisons and not building an expensive wall,” Blumenthal said. “We should focus on comprehensive immigration reform.”

Where Blumenthal did take a hard-nosed legal approach was when questioned on whether he would be “relentless” in opposing the Trump administration.

“When I was Attorney General, nobody accused me of being anything other than relentless,” he said. “There are days I miss that job, because I could sue the bad guys.”

When Blumenthal was asked about Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch, he said he would not support him if he failed to meet certain criteria: such as not supporting Roe v. Wade or opposing “common sense measures on gun control” such as background checks. Blumenthal said when he met Gorsuch, the nominee dodged his question on Roe V. Wade.

When another speaker asked for clarification as to whether Blumenthal planned to use the filibuster to oppose Gorsuch’s nomination, as Senate Republicans did with Barack Obama’s nominee Merrick Garland, Blumenthal said he would.

“We have to assume he passes the Trump litmus test, and if that’s the case, I will use the filibuster. I will use every tool at my disposal,” he said.

Several people said they were new to being politically involved.

Michael Syrotchen, from Waterbury, said he is a Vietnam-era veteran, and Saturday’s town hall was his first ever.

“One of the signs of a dictator is surrounding himself with military,” he said.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, United States Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly and the designated National Secretary Advisor H.R. McMaster are all recent generals.

Stacey Schwartz said she drove from Hebron to speak for her 13-year-old son, who is transgender.

“The only way I got to sleep was to read the governor’s executive order,” she said, referring to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s response to the Trump administration’s dismissal of federal guidance in support of transgender students. “That should not be a child’s bedtime story.”

Schwartz said she wanted to hear from Blumenthal what he would do to protect the nation’s most vulnerable people.

“How do I protect my son, who now feels he is a target? What message do students get? My son is being told he is less than (other students),” she said. For Schwartz, Saturday was also her first ever political town hall.

Sarah Bromley, from Milford, wore a pink hat symbolic of the Women’s March on Washington.

She told Blumenthal that he is “an A+ senator” and that she had taken his advice from the first time she saw him at a rally.

“If you go to a rally and you don’t film it, it didn’t happen,” she said.

Bromley said she had become very involved in political activism on social media, something that had previously been foreign to her.

Although the auditorium was filled with relative political newcomers, the proverbial old guard mingled with them as well.

Elizabeth Sparks, from Willimantic, said she was fearful of the Trump administration’s efforts to suppress the press.

“Suppression is the tool of dictators,” she said, listing Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot.

New Haven Mayor Toni Harp, who introduced Blumenthal, said she supports Blumenthal for fighting for Connecticut amidst an “unconstitutional assault on people.”

Blumenthal said Trump is a “master of distraction,” and he believes Democrats must “keep our eye on the ball.”

“We are coming together, trying to pick our fights and pick nominations where we fight him. We’re just going to say no. No on principle, we will not talk about it. We will say no tax code reforms that provide more giveaways and breaks and subsidies to people who don’t need them,” he said. “We are going to draw some lines in the sand.”

This story has been updated to reflect that Richard Blumenthal has not made a decision to oppose Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch outright. Blumenthal said Gorsuch must disavow certain positions aligned with the Trump administration on reproductive rights and guns if he were to expect his vote.