Angus King broke ranks to help end the government shutdown. The backlash has been withering

The longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history is over. But with little to show for it, the mostly Democratic politicians who ended the standoff now face intense backlash.

It’s one of the clearest examples yet that the party is experiencing a moment like the GOP’s tea party uprising of the early 2010s, an upheaval that fundamentally altered Republican politics.

This time the anger was targeted at senators, including several from New England, who are typically praised for their pragmatism. Within hours of the announced deal, protests ensued outside their constituent offices and phone lines were swamped. A new social media rage cycle kicked into overdrive as users blasted the collective age — about 70 — of the eight Democratically aligned dealmakers and called for their retirement