Recently I attended a Town Hall meeting with a local Congressman, Rep. Adam Smith and about 2,500 of his constituents, or, as in my case, indirect constituents.  (I live just one district over.)  Here are my thoughts on the experience, plus some photos. 

1.  I'm proud of the educational system here in WA State.  Nobody spelled "moron" wrong, and there were no "Pubic Options" anywhere.  Good show, folks! 

This lady gets extra points for spelling "Czar" correctly: 

Here's some more cleverness on display: 

2.  The Meeting started early.  Good job, Representative! 

3.  The lecture from the Rep. was good, short, and to the point.  He talked about the uninsured, how much we pay for substandard care, that we pay too much for administrative costs, and that there is too much reimbursement for extra procedures and tests.  This last point is a central tenet in Rep. Smith's platform on health care reform, and, he says, the key to real cost containment. 

4.  First Ironic Moment of the Evening:  The retired lady next to me said, in response to my inquiry as to why she was here, "Well, I want health care reform, but not all this socialism."  I asked her if she was on Medicare.  She said "Yes, but it's not that great."  I looked right at her and said, "If I could sign up for Medicare tomorrow, I would.  I have a family to support, and health insurance is really expensive.  If I lose my job, I have nothing."  She had no response to that, but I'm really hoping she thinks about it some more.  She did mention several times that there is "a lot of fraud" in Medicare and "they need to clean it up."   

5.  I'd say the split on For/Agin was about 60/40:

Somehow, I managed to sit in the Agin section.  Lots of nice, middle class folks.  The couple in front of me could have been photoshopped from 1965:  he was wearing a short sleeved white shirt and a tie, she a skirt and flats.  Which brings me to another point: 

6.  Middle class non-politically active folks have a hard time getting riled up.  Sure, there were some boos from "our" side, and a raucous back and forth with "the other" side at one point:  "Health Care NOW!"  followed by "NO" from "our" side....but by and large, these folks stayed seated, didn't cause a ruckus, and were well behaved.  I say, use this against them next time. 

7.   Talking Points Memo:  I stayed for 12 questions from the audience.  Of that, four were TPM questions or statements.  The first guy asked about "Death Pamphlets" at the VA, (and, to be fair, about our role in Afghanistan. )  Kudos to this group for groaning OUT LOUD when the questioner said the "Death Pamphlets" had been revealed to him ON FOX NEWS.  Another guy mentioned something I'm sure I've heard circulating around the RWosphere about how the Indian Health Services was doing a crappy job on the Reservations, so "If Government can't fix IHS, how can they run Health Care?!"  Which brings me to the Second Ironic Moment of the Evening: 

8.  The group I was sitting in got to their feet and hooted loudly at the assertions of the failures of the IHS articulated by the questioner above.  I looked around at all of them and could not see a single one of them who appeared to be Native in any way, so I can only assume that their concern for our Native brothers and sisters emerged at that very moment.  Oh, and in the context of Hatin' the Gubmint. 

9.  The only time things got nasty and the Rep. had to threaten to have someone removed by the Po-lice was when someone asked about abortion and there was some kind of shoving match that I couldn't see on the other side of the venue.  That, plus the few silent anti-abortion goofs with their DISGUSTING signs were the only people that got the stink eye, that I could see.  People were, by and large, pretty respectful, but boisterous.  Even the "tea partiers" (who wore very smart red tee shirts, all matching) were not disruptive or out of line--  perhaps because they were outnumbered by the Health Care Now/Planned Parenthood/Pro Reform folks.  Far outnumbered.  (Someone should really tell them that red was co-opted by the Commies about 100 years ago as a symbol of resistance.  Or maybe they're trying to emulate the Redcoats....Tories, all.)   

10.  Most Important Takeaway: 

Health Care Reform is a complicated issue and most Americans aren't quite sure about what should be done, or how.  Case in point:  When asked DIRECTLY if he would vote for HR 3200, Rep. Smith said No.  LOUD CHEERS.  Then, IMMEDIATELY AFTER, he said, "That's because the bill would be difficult to vote on in this form and bring to the floor."  THEN he said, "I am a big Public Option Fan".  LOUD BOOS AND ALSO LOTS OF CHEERS.  Get the picture?  People are afraid of change, but they want change.  They want the government to do something, but they don't want to know all the details.  Washington D.C. is very, very far away from most people's daily lives, which is how they want it to stay.  (Unless something goes wrong, of course, like contaminated food.)  They don't trust the government, but they like their local Rep.  Kind of like how most Americans think Public Schools suck, except for the ones THEIR kids go to, which are great.     

11.  Heroes of the Evening for Bringing It All Home: 

The two women shown in the second picture below.   

These ladies apparently work at Wal-Mart and cannot afford insurance for themselves or their kids, despite working 40-plus hours a week.  The one gal pointed out to another woman who challenged her, "I have kids, too.  And I want to be able to take them to the hospital if I need to.  But I can't, because I can't afford it.  There is no decision for me.  Health Care should be for all Americans." 

People who are working full time SHOULD have access to health care.  Really.  It shouldn't be a gold star or awarded after college graduation.  I hope at least a few folks there thought about that afterward.