Democrats Skip Town Halls to Avoid Voter Rage

[WestVirginiaRebel]

NY Times:

BEL AIR, Md. — The reception that Representative Frank Kratovil Jr., a Democrat, received here one night last week as he faced a small group of constituents was far more pleasant than his encounters during a Congressional recess last summer.

Then, he was hanged in effigy by protesters. This time, a round of applause was followed by a glass of chilled wine, a plate of crackers and crudités as he mingled with an invitation-only audience at the Point Breeze Credit Union, a vastly different scene than last year’s wide-open televised free-for-alls.

The sentiment that fueled the rage during those Congressional forums is still alive in the electorate. But the opportunities for voters to openly express their displeasure, or angrily vent as video cameras roll, have been harder to come by in this election year.

If the time-honored tradition of the political meeting is not quite dead, it seems to be teetering closer to extinction. Of the 255 Democrats who make up the majority in the House, only a handful held town-hall-style forums as legislators spent last week at home in their districts.

It was no scheduling accident.

With images of overheated, finger-waving crowds still seared into their minds from the discontent of last August, many Democrats heeded the advice of party leaders and tried to avoid unscripted question-and-answer sessions. The recommendations were clear: hold events in controlled settings — a bank or credit union, for example — or tour local businesses or participate in community service projects.

And to reach thousands of constituents at a time, without the worry of being snared in an angry confrontation with voters, more lawmakers are also taking part in a fast-growing trend: the telephone town meeting, where chances are remote that a testy exchange will wind up on YouTube.

For incumbents of both parties facing challenging re-election bids, few things receive more scrutiny than how, when and where they interact with voters. Many members of Congress err on the side of being visible, but not too visible, and make only a few public appearances while they are back in their districts.
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I guess they'd rather wait until November for the tar and feathers...

[SrWoodchuck]

WVR!

 

Red or Blue, if you're elected to office, you can't afford to neglect any segment of your constituency.

 

The founding fathers received news from their neighbors daily, or weekly at market, Those neighbors had stories about other neighbors, and an astute representative was on horseback a bit.

 

There are no excuses for not keeping your finger on the pulse of your representative area.

 

These are people that forgot that they represent all & considering only loyalty to a national progressive agenda, turned their backs on those that did not elect them.

 

Rep. Frankie Kratovil, Jr. is sipping wine & noshing crudites now; hopefully, come November, he'll be served tea & tar balls with lame duck feathers.

 

The new Progressive strategy seems to be to give half hearted support to their loyal incumbents, but be ready to drop them like a hot rock & go with a non-"Health Care" stained challenger, the minute their poll numbers drop. A variation of Progressive election "Magik."

[Valin]

WestVirginiaRebel SrWoodchuck

 

[Argyle58]

Why bother keeping track of the pulse of the electorate when you intend to ignore them anyway? They wish to avoid the consequences of legislating against the will of the voters, and it isn't going to work. November is looming.