The political impact of the 1995-1996 shutdowns was so significant that Roy Meyers, a political science professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, says he is surprised that it has become even a possibility again, given the blame Republicans took in opinion polls at the time. Later in 1996, House Republicans lost nine seats to Democrats and Democratic President Bill Clinton was reelected with an 8.5 percentage point popular vote margin."The federal government's activities are so wide-ranging it would be a tremendous effort to estimate its impact," says Meyers, who has written about the 1995-1996 shutdowns.
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