Politicians who didn’t hold town halls last month had a variety of excuses as to why not. And those offered by Montana Democratic Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus were just as weak as any of their congressional colleagues. Baucus said he was listening to Montanans’ concerns while visiting public places across the state – from fairs to fast-food restaurants. Tester said he was appearing at a number of listening sessions and looks forward to more health-care reform discussions when legislation is finalized.
For many supporters and detractors of potential health-care changes, that’s not good enough. And we have reason to complain. Traditionally, both Baucus and especially Tester have been extremely accessible. So by not hosting town halls now, it appears that they are simply ducking constituents who may yell at them.
To their credit, neither senator hid out in August. Both of them traveled the state, meeting with hospital officials to discuss health care and championing a variety of other causes – and Baucus did hold a “teleconference.” But not hosting live town halls, when the issue consumed so much of the month’s media cycle, is glaring, and has only contributed to their party losing vital ground in public opinion.
Baucus and Tester wield exceptional and disproportional power in the health care debate. Baucus, as chair of the Senate Finance Committee, has a direct line to President Barack Obama and is essentially crafting his chamber’s version of reform. Tester is considered a key moderate swing vote and is already being targeted by special interest groups on both sides of the argument. The third leg of Montana’s U.S. delegation, Republican Congressman Denny Rehberg, has been hosting town halls in front of what he describes as “record crowds.” But the Senate is what matters; it’s where the fight over health care will be decided. Yet our two senators, along with 48 of their 58 Democratic colleagues, chose to forgo town halls, according to a POLITICO survey released last week.
The Beacon office has received calls from Montanans trying to find any information on where they might have a chance of speaking with Baucus or Tester and we’ve had to tell these folks we can’t help.
Our senators may have figured that hosting town halls would expose them to heated exchanges where, as has happened elsewhere, police have had to restrain audience members. That makes for some awkward YouTube moments, and maybe Montana’s senators figured it wasn’t worth it. But the absence of town halls looks worse, and at least one poll backs that up.
A USA Today/Gallup Poll conducted in August found that independents sympathetic toward town hall protesters outnumbered those who said the demonstrations caused them to be less sympathetic by a margin of 2-to-1, or 35 percent to 16 percent. Overall, however, there are still some limits to what Americans find acceptable in terms of conduct at town halls. The same poll found that six in 10 people thought shouting down supporters of health care reform is an “abuse of democracy” and a slight majority, 47 percent to 44 percent thought the same about “booing members of Congress.”
The majority of people watching this argument play out, even if it is through dramatic snippets endlessly replayed on the Internet and on television, can still discern between legitimate concerns and people simply posturing for TV cameras. But for some Democrats to suggest – and neither Baucus nor Tester has – that these loud, dissenting voices are part of an “Astroturf” movement is disingenuous.
The argument over health care is very real, especially in Montana, where most are leery of big government, from the Patriot Act to Real ID. Baucus and Tester may convince only a few that supporting the Democrats’ eventual health plan is in their best interest. But by not entering the lion’s den to respond to accusations head-on, both senators and the legislation appear less convincing by the day.