I got a update on yesterday evening’s townhall meeting in Towson with Senator Ben Cardin from Lisa Fitzhugh, a Facebook friend and friend of monoblogue. I’ll start with her thoughts and close tonight with my observations about an upcoming event at Salisbury University.
Lisa notes:
I got in to the Cardin town hall and witnessed.
I saw people I know on the pro-Obama healthcare plan go to the head of the line and waltz right into seats. The main thing that these line-jumpers accomplished was keeping people who actually got there ahead of them stuck in the hot sun and out of the auditorium.
The questioners who eventually got to the mikes asked good questions that were clearly on everyone’s minds. I think there were 7 standing ovations for the questioners. In the auditorium I listened to the frustration build as Cardin worked to command the stage and run out the clock with his presentation of info that lasted until 7:35. Then he responded to culled written questions, and then he finally he took questions from the mikes.
He repeatedly said he supported town halls and pointed to his courage to hold one. I’d have more respect for him if he had just given his constituents their rare platform and let them ask questions instead of reserving so much time for himself.
Most of his rebuttals included “if we do nothing” (he must of mentioned that at least 10 times…if anyone has tapes I guess we can count). Questioners brought up difficulties with the proposals, and he usually worked into his reply “If we do nothing” then this dire circumstance will happen. This is part of the groundwork for this fall’s coming compromises where at the very least we will see a bill with incrementals of increased governmental intrusion. It is a tactical maneuver.
Notice how “universal healthcare coverage” is supposedly on everyone’s wish list? We are already halfway socialized; this is the reason for the consequences we bear today. There is little effort to push back away from socialized medicine and towards free market corrections. The proponents of nationalized solutions are still in control of the debate.
However, this audience was respectful and informed and angry. This audience is gaining more and more information daily and I do not believe they will be stymied.
On Thursday Salisbury will get its chance to question the Senator – or will it?
A frequent tactic in these healthcare meetings is to have supporters brought in simply to fill seats and allow less room for those members of the public who may be slightly less sold on the nationalization of healthcare.
According to the information I’ve received, Senator Cardin’s townhall will be in the Wicomico Room of the Guerrieri Center at SU. I looked up the capacity of the room and under certain conditions it can hold 400 people; however, more intimate settings can lower that seating capacity to less than 150. In any case, the room and its egress should easily allow the 400 people to see the Senator – might get a little hot with all the bodies but the room is designed to handle that sort of crowd.
So one question becomes how many people will be allowed in, and of those will some significant number be brought in to bolster the pro-Obamacare crowd?
The other question will be how many from each side will be outside wilting in the midday heat? From what I’ve read about the Towson meeting, the pro-Obamacare side was vastly outnumbered by supporters of liberty, and we’ll see if the same holds true Thursday morning.
We have gotten to the point where there is little dispute as to the facts – many of the protestors can read the portions of the bill they object to chapter and verse. The question becomes how the Senator will justify his future vote for Obamacare because let’s face it – Cardin along with his Maryland stablemate Barb Mikulski are sureshot liberal votes for whatever Obama wants. The dog and pony show should be fun to watch once it rolls into Salisbury and the unfortunate fact of physics that I can’t be inside and outside to cover the counter-protest at once makes Thursday a potential busy day for me. I’ll do what I can.
The real story were all the people outside against what Cardin is supporting.’ I’m talking over 2 thousand against the proposed reform compared to the hundred or so for it.
Nick
Unfortunately, the event today was reservation only and they only allowed for about 100 people. Also, it was held at 10am in the middle of a workday. Cardin will not be holding a town hall here on the shore.