SEATTLE — With the livelihoods of 82,000 federal workers across Washington state on the line, a former state attorney general and Republican says only modest demands separate the two parties in Washington, D.C., making a speedy end to the government shutdown possible.

Former Attorney General Rob McKenna, the GOP’s 2012 gubernatorial candidate, said Tuesday that Democrats’ demand for a permanent extension of tax credits that help 22 million Americans afford health insurance under the Affordable Care Act is something both sides “can hammer out.”

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“Many Republicans also want to extend that tax credit. If that is the main issue separating them, I think the Democrats ought to be given their

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