Posted on 06/06/2010 10:16:34 PM PDT by Steelfish
To Avoid Voter Rage, Democrats Skip Town Halls
By JEFF ZELENY June 6, 2010
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
They’re a bunch of chickensh*ts!
Pansies...
LOL!
The only surprise about this article is it was printed by the NY Times.
self ping (Ref: dems refuse to have townhall meetings)
afraid to ask .. what kind of crudities?
COWARDS!!!
Keep it up Democrats...Just Ignore the problem and maybe it will go away....Can’t wait for November!
The actions of a bunch of cowardly Democrats.
Patty Murray joins their ranks as she holds tele-conferences with no advance notice of them. You might be lucky enough to be home and take the call, if you receive one at all, and might be given a chance for a 30 minute to 45 minute participation, mostly by listening as callers wishing to speak are screened.
This isn’t representation, it’s political cowardice.
Well Democrats should remind everyone about Socialized Medicine, Tax Hikes and Amnesty.
DailyKos tells me most voters love all of that stuff.
i'm fairly certain this was one of the grievances in the Declaration of Independence
"For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:"
"For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. "
and of course:
"He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. "
"For imposing taxes on us without our consent:"
"He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance. "
i could go on...
27 grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence... at least half are applicable today.
Poor baby! Crudites is French for cut up veggies!
Ah, you have enhanced my level of culture!
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