town hall meeting

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'Racial Anxiety' Fuels Town Hall Protesters

(Newser) - The mob-like scenes at recent town halls are "something new and ugly," writes Paul Krugman, who notes that 2005's protests against Social Security privatization never saw baying crowds and congressmen hanged in effigy. The New York Times columnist is unconvinced that the mobs are in the pay...

Tampa Town Hall on Health Turns Ugly

Forum turns into rowdy shouting, shoving match

(Newser) - Rowdy protesters turned a Tampa town hall meeting on health care reform into a near-riot last night, reports the St. Petersburg Times, whose reporter at the scene likened the atmosphere to a wrestling cage match. Local Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor was shouted down by audience members crying "Tyranny!"...

Progressives' Memo: Here's How to Outwit Righty Protesters

Memo urges civil discourse, chanting

(Newser) - A progressive organization is trying to turn the tables on conservative protesters who have been interrupting Town Hall discussions on health care reform, Talking Points Memo reports. Health Care for America Now has released a memo outlining tactics for defusing shouting matches and allowing lawmakers to actually answer questions. First...

Grass Roots or Astroturf? Protests Disrupt Town Halls

Dems come home to hecklers swinging at health care legislation

(Newser) - Many Democrats' August recess is off to a noisy start, as conservative dissenters flood town-hall meetings to protest health care legislation, the Boston Globe reports. Using tactics and questions prescribed online, hecklers do their best to disrupt the events, yelling questions and shouting out while videotaping the exchange. Republicans say...

New DNC Ad Slams GOP's 'Angry Mobs'

Dems use town hall protests to fire back

(Newser) - In a new online ad, Democrats return fire at “angry mobs” driven by the Republican Party, the Huffington Post reports. “They lost the election. They lost on the Recovery Act, the budget and children’s health care,” says the ad. “Now, desperate Republicans and their well-funded...

Town Halls Turn to Mayhem for Lawmakers

'Unruly mob' mentality becoming more common at events

(Newser) - Members of Congress are increasingly seeing town-hall meetings turn to bedlam, with people yelling and protesters being pulled out by police, Politico reports. A New York representative who’d hosted more than 100 such meetings has called it quits after a chaotic scene last month that necessitated his departure with...

Obama Plans 8-Point Health Pitch

Aims for clear message amid policy debate

(Newser) - President Obama is taking a repackaged health care message on the road in North Carolina and Virginia today, where he'll unveil an eight-point plan intended to cut wonkish policy to the chase for voters. While the Washington Post can't come up with a catchy moniker for the plan, it lays...

Bernanke Defends Bailouts in First Fed Town Hall Meeting

(Newser) - Fed chief Ben Bernanke fielded questions from the public in an unprecedented town hall meeting last night, the Kansas City star reports. Sounding every bit like a candidate running for office, Bernanke defended his moves during the recession and financial crisis, saying he had learned from his predecessors' mistakes in...

Obama: Delay on Health Bill 'OK,' But Keep Working

(Newser) - President Barack Obama stepped up his pitch for overhauling health care today, saying the American people need it and must overcome resistance from opponents in Washington, whom he described vaguely as naysayers and skeptics. "Reform may be coming too soon for some in Washington," the president told a...

White House Strategy: All Obama, All the Time

(Newser) - By now, we’ve gotten a pretty good look at the White House’s PR playbook, and as you may have noticed, Barack Obama gets the ball a lot. The president is everywhere, Politico reports. He’s given more interviews than any other recent president had at this point in...

Obama Takes Swipe at 'Folks Waving Tea Bags'

(Newser) - President Obama directed his most direct criticism yet at anti-tax “tea partiers” today at a town hall event marking his first 100 days in office, Politico reports. Though studiously vague, Obama conceded that people watching “certain news channels on which I'm not very popular” might “see folks...

Obama Tells Young Turks to Look Past US 'Stereotypes'

Says America still stands for greater good

(Newser) - Barack Obama wrapped up his first foreign trip as president with a request of the world: Look past his nation's stereotypes and flaws. "You will find a partner and a friend in the United States of America," he declared today in a town hall meeting with Turkish students....

Obama Sets No-Nukes Goal at Town-Hall Forum in France

Calls for renewed Europe-US partnership

(Newser) - President Obama told a European audience today that he’s set sights on "a world without nuclear weapons,” the AP reports. Obama opened a town-hall meeting in France with the declaration, saying he would outline details in Prague in the coming days. "The spread of nuclear weapons...

Dude! High Times Snags Obama Interview ... Sorta

(Newser) - On the heels of his much-publicized comments about legalizing marijuana—or not—President Obama will fire off a written response to questions from High Times, the pro-weed publication reports. “The president does not, at this time, support the legalization of marijuana,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says. “...

Obama's Pot Answer Too Dismissive
 Obama's Pot Answer 
 Too Dismissive 
opinion
Mar 26, 2009 8:41 PM CDT

Obama's Pot Answer Too Dismissive

(Newser) - President Obama drew chuckles today for his comments about legalizing marijuana—it's not a "good strategy to grow the economy"—but critics say he was too dismissive of a serious issue. "His answer was a non-answer," writes Andrew Sullivan in his Daily Dish blog at the...

Online Town Hall a Positive Step for Democracy
Online Town Hall a Positive Step for Democracy
analysis
Mar 26, 2009 4:41 PM CDT

Online Town Hall a Positive Step for Democracy

Format shows administration is serious about opening government

(Newser) - Sure, President Obama’s online town hall meeting today ended up being mostly like a normal press conference, writes Jose Antonio Vargas for the Washington Post, with Obama answering mostly “predictable” questions with “tried-and-tested policy responses.” What makes the event important is that the president was asked...

Obama Holds Online Town Hall
 Obama Holds Online Town Hall 
Mar 26, 2009 11:26 AM CDT

Obama Holds Online Town Hall

(Newser) - President Obama held a unique “online town-hall” today, answering questions submitted and voted on at WhiteHouse.gov. An aide acted as a moderator, calling it a “new experiment in getting questions from outside Washington.” The questions ran the gamut from education to the economy to health care,...

Prez to Answer Questions Online Tomorrow

Obama to host first 'e-town hall' meeting since taking office

(Newser) - Barack Obama will host his first online town hall meeting as president tomorrow, the Atlantic reports. The White House "community-moderated online town hall" website invites Americans to submit questions on the economy and vote on other participants’ entries. The president will answer from among those voted most popular.

Obama Visit Lights Up Conservative Orange County

(Newser) - President Obama will speak today at a town hall meeting in deep-red Orange Country, Calif.—though maybe the “conservative stronghold” tag is weakening, the Los Angeles Times reports. Hundreds swarmed the event site for tickets, even camping out overnight to get them in an area that gave Obama...

McCain Ditches Town Halls for Larger Crowds

Fractious Q&As and need for 'volume' forces shift to big rallies

(Newser) - John McCain hasn’t held one of his trademark town hall meetings since early October, and it’s not only because they started turning nasty, Politico reports. Though the question-and-answer format revealed some distressing misconceptions in the McCain faithful, town halls also are much smaller than more spectacular rallies. “...

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