Comparing GOP Townhalls to Democrat Townhalls

Doing things the right way matters. They posted a video over at powerlineblog of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie conducting a town hall meeting in Bergen County. In the video the Governor responds to a teacher who thinks she is underpaid, and to another who is outraged that state funding for the local library is slated to be cut. His responses are sensible, honest, and understandable, and reflect conservative values. But what I was struck with the most by these town hall meetings is that they were open to anyone and they were filled with opponents of his policies, not hand-picked supporters.

This is in stark contrast to the town hall meeting that my Congressman, Democrat Gary Peters, held last year. At Peter's one and only townhall meeting, union groups and Democrats from out of district bussed in supporters who began to line up for the townhall early in the day. Arriving 4 hours before the townhall was scheduled to begin, I found myself at the end of a long line, and didn't get in to talk to Peters- along with hundreds of other constituents of his who have day jobs. It didn't matter anyways- unlike conservative Republican Governor Christie, who took questions from constituents and talked to them, liberal Democrat Congressman Peters filtered all the questions through his aides, responding to the modified and moderated questions with prepared talking points and lecturing.

And unlike Christie, who held many townhalls, Peters has been in virtual hiding his district and has held only one open townhall, and the one that he went to he snuck into the meeting and snuck out of the meeting, never speaking to or even saying hello to the hundreds of constituents who came to the townhall but couldn't get in because it was packed by bussed in SEIU supporters. Attempts by constituents to meet with Peters at his office have been met by thugs who don't allow you to park anywhere near his building, and several times he has baited and switched meetings with constituents, scheduling 'open office hours' and then when people showed up having his aides tell people to go away because he isn't around.

Watch for yourself the video of what happens when you put conservative Republicans in office and compare that to what I wrote about liberal Democrats (Report from Peters Townhall Sept 09). The difference between the two is clear.