The pushback that federal legislators received while holding public meetings in 2009 paved a new course in political dialogue.
Congressional leaders began debating the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act a few months after President Barack Obama took office. By that summer, voters concerned over the proposed health care reform bill wanted answers from their elected officials about whether they intended to support the legislation.
Many town hall events became contentious, some even resulting in violence. The brewing anger left many lawmakers unsure about how to proceed.
“Screaming constituents, protesters dragged out by the cops, congressmen fearful for their safety — welcome to the new town hall-style meeting, the once-staid forum that is rapidly turning into a house of horrors for members of Congress,” according to an article by Alex Isenstadt titled “Town halls gone wild,” published July 31, 2009, by Politico. “On the eve of the August recess, members are reporting meetings that have gone terribly awry, marked by angry, sign-carrying mobs and disruptive behavior. In at least one case, a congressman has stopped holding town hall events because the situation has spiraled so far out of control.”
Isenstadt’s article quoted then-U.S. Rep. Timothy Bishop, a Democrat who served constituents in New York’s 1st Congressional District in Suffolk County. He explained why he stopped holding town hall meetings.
“I had felt they would be pointless,” Bishop told Isenstadt. “There is no point in meeting with my constituents and [to] listen to them and have them listen to you if what is basically an unruly mob prevents you from having an intelligent conversation.”
The scenes that year of angry villagers with proverbial pitch forks coincided with the rise of the tea party movement. Decrying bailouts for Wall Street and the automobile industry, many people said government spending on Capitol Hill was bankrupting us. To have Washington take over health care became the last straw.
So they took to the streets in protest and flooded community centers during town hall gatherings with legislators. This helped those in the tea party movement elect candidates committed to repealing Obamacare.
Well, a funny thing happened on the way to a new presidential administration: The ACA grew more popular.
U.S. Rep. Elise M. Stefanik, R-Willsboro, adamantly opposed the ACA as a candidate in 2014 and called for revising it. During Obama’s final years in office, she routinely joined other House Republicans in voting to repeal the legislation.
But after seeing demonstrations earlier this year throughout the 21st Congressional District in support of the ACA, Stefanik modified her stance to some extent. She again proposed new health care reform measures while stating the ACA should be left intact for perhaps three years as legislators devised an acceptable alternative.
Many of President Donald Trump’s critics have demanded town hall meetings with their legislators to see where they stand on his agenda. They hope to use these events to build momentum for a growing opposition like the tea party movement did over the past eight years.
Some elected officials, however, are not playing along. Seeing how disastrously these public events went for more than a few lawmakers, they’ve declined opportunities to them.
Stefanik often sidesteps large-scale public forums and has refused to hold a town hall event this year. This has angered some of her constituents, who claim she isn’t listening to their concerns.
The Press-Republican has joined the chorus. The newspaper published a Feb. 22 editorial titled “Stefanik owes us a town hall,” urging Stefanik to face her constituents and address the issues they raise.
I agree with this point in the editorial. The people of this district deserve to have their elected officials on Capitol Hill listen to them and respond to their needs.
But in all due respect to my journalism colleagues in Plattsburgh, Stefanik does now owe anyone a town hall meeting. What she owes us is the very best and most efficient representation possible.
Town hall events are not the best way for legislators to discover what their constituents want. Given the many people who attend, direct interaction with a lawmaker will be nonexistent for most of those in the audience.
Stefanik hosts numerous meetings with small groups of people. She also holds telephone conferences, and she recently attended forums at both the Lyons Falls Library and Jefferson Community College.
This isn’t to suggest that Stefanik isn’t evasive on issues when it serves her purpose. She knows how to avoid giving away too much of what she believes about controversial topics when vagueness will suffice. And she often keeps those of us in the news industry at bay when she chooses to address specific groups.
But when Stefanik is in the district, she regularly meets with numerous individuals. To suggest that she isn’t listening to their concerns isn’t accurate.
A town hall meeting was held Saturday at the Hugh C. Williams Senior High School in Canton. Stefanik was previously invited but declined to attend. The event was held anyway in her absence.
The sincerity of the people who organized this event is not at all in doubt. They have legitimate concerns about how federal policies will be shaped under Trump and a Republican Congress.
But I don’t comprehend the purpose of people directing questions to an empty stage. If this town hall event wasn’t political theater, a claim some reluctant legislators have lobbed at those demanding such events, then what was it?
Jerry Moore is the editorial page editor for the Watertown Daily Times. Readers may call him at 315-661-2369 or send emails to jmoore@wdt.net.