The story this morning is that Rep. Dave Trott, Republican from the Detroit area, had a "rowdy" town hall typical of town halls this year. But there is more to the story and it's worth watching because you will see this story unfold again and again:
1. Republican congressman does everything possible to avoid holding a town hall.
Dave Trott hasn't held a town hall in over 2 years. He even spent a week designated on the Congressional calendar as "district work week" on a fact-finding tour of India.
2. Republican congressman gets shamed by his constituents, who have learned how to do media. These smart ladies held a "Trott-less town hall" with a live chicken to point out Trott's cowardice:
3. Republican congressman finds the most inconvenient venue and time to hold a town hall. Hundreds more than hall can hold show up anyway. Trott held his one hour after dawn. In a snowstorm.
Solicitous staffers had taken every precaution to limit the damage, scheduling the town hall to begin in the first hour past sunrise on a snowy Saturday morning, in a venue they were obliged to vacate in time to make way for the boat show opening 90 minutes later. The weather gods were complicit, whipping up a sudden blizzard that spun cars into ditches and brought traffic on the major arteries leading to the Suburban Collection Showplace to a standstill.
Still they came, arriving by the hundreds before plows had cleared the parking lot. By the time the doors opened at 8 a.m., there were close to a thousand, more than twice as many as the 425 seats set out for the event would accommodate. So most of the crowd huddled outside, chanting slogans and stamping their feet in the cold while they huddled around the videos being streamed to their smart phones by the luckier, warmer attendees inside.
Here's a video from outside the hall of the people who could not get in.
4. Republican congressman's town hall goes as you might expect. (Please note that while Trott was re-elected by 12 points last November, Hillary Clinton won his county by 52-44.) Many Republicans in Michigan do not like Donald Trump. Note the reaction when Trump is brought up. Red flags? Ya think?
5. Republican congressman's town tall ends and in this case Republican staffers are caught on a hot mic planning how to make those constituents look "un-American" because they booed defense spending.
And of course Trott has already been shown claiming that protestors are paid, not his constituents, and don't represent the real voters.
6. The Daily Caller and other right wing media sites are happy to pick up on the Republican congressman's framing:
7. Republican Congressman runs off to Fox News for some tender loving care. Same talking point.
Nothing on right wing media about the number of cancer patients, parents of cancer patients, and cancer survivors at the town hall. Local Fox affiliates did cover that, however.
It's about being there, being loud, and being ready to vote him out for not caring about real people and their health insurance.
The End.
(h/t Eclectablog via Heather)
