Ryan’s Warriors

[Geee]

National Review:


GOP congressmen take their budget to town-hall meetings.

Audubon, Pa. — One mile from Valley Forge, on a balmy Tuesday, Rep. Pat Meehan strode into Shannondell, a sprawling, seniors-only apartment complex. He came as a foot soldier for Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget. And like many House Republicans this recess, he came armed with posters.

Meehan’s aides perched the cardboard sheets, produced by the GOP conference, around a drab, windowless room. One pie chart was ominously illustrated with the red and yellow of the Chinese flag; another displayed alarming fiscal statistics.


Grandfathers in madras sleeves, many of them with their wives, soon arrived. Before crowding into seats up front, they scribbled their names on sign-in sheets and eyed the scary-debt decorations. Meehan, his jacket off, greeted each with a handshake.

But Meehan did not work the room. Among the upbeat octogenarians, the congressman was low-key, almost cautious. Owing to the slew of friendly introductions, he likely sensed that he was not in hostile territory. These days, however, a politician never really knows — ThinkProgress, that viral-video menace, could be lurking.