No Town Halls Near Here

You cannot turn on talk show radio these days without hearing endless and repetitive opinions about the congressional town hall meetings on health care. Conservative hosts are framing the issue as one in which some members of Congress are refusing to listen to the public before passing a bill that literally affects life and death for all Americans. Liberal hosts point out that the status quo is unacceptable, a lot of misinformation is being spread, and the current bills need some work but are the best approach to comprehensive health-care reform. To get some first-hand information on these opposing views, I contacted my congressional representatives about attending a local town hall meeting.

First, I asked myself how far I was willing to travel and what I want to know. Travel was easy—up to an hour each way from Bremerton, preferably for a meeting during the day or early evening. Specifying what I want to know was harder. My questions boiled down to whether my representatives understand that many Americans oppose a government takeover of health care and that it is flat wrong to put the nation further in debt tomorrow to achieve universal coverage today. In short, I wanted to learn, to find out if Congress is listening, to hear what others have to say, and to be able to write about the experience.

Then last weekend I sent email to my congressman (Norm Dicks) and two senators (Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray) asking if they would be holding a live town hall meeting during the August break. So far none of their staffs has bothered to reply. I have since learned from the media that Congressman Dicks won’t be holding any meetings, Senator Murray’s meetings will be by telephone and on the Internet, and Senator Cantwell will continue her health-care forums (whatever those are) for the rest of the year. I think all three are making a mistake. In contrast, Rick Larsen, a Democrat representing Washington’s second district, will be holding a town hall tonight—outside at a baseball stadium in Everett.

OK, things could backfire at a town hall meeting. Protestors could hijack it, its video could be used out of context, the speaker could be heckled, and the right could make additional hay. But holding a meeting when attendees are curious and motivated is exactly what you want if you are in Congress. Talk about a way of combating citizen apathy. There’s something special about being at a live event. You cannot buy the publicity and good will created, at least among most people there. Plus you don’t want to get labeled as a representative who doesn’t care what your constituents think.