3 days Ago
In Maine right now, as in other parts of the country, many constituents are feeling neglected and at sea. The sweeping changes originating from the White House at a breakneck rate are the source of widespread and rising consternation. While local voters have been particularly outspoken about their desire to be in the same room as 2nd Congressional District representatives Sen.
Susan Collins and Rep. Jared Golden, the same calls have extended to Sen. Angus King and Rep.
Chellie Pingree. Earlier this month, Pingree was criticized for “hiding behind a phone call” by attending a virtual public meeting. Google the slightly tortured set of terms “in-person town hall meeting” and you will find daily demands for this style of civic engagement cropping up all across America.
People gather at politicians’ offices pleading for a date on the calendar. You will also find stern cautions against the hosting of these now potentially very testy and fiery meetings, citing safety concerns. In fact, National Republican Congressional Committee leadership has recommended that its members stop holding public events altogether.
House Speaker Mike Johnson was quick to agree with the argument for staying away. “We’ve seen this movie before,” Johnson said at a press conference in early March. “They’re professional protesters.
So why would we give them a forum to do that right now?” Some congressional representatives have decided to go ahead and run the risk. In Indiana last week, 46-year-old Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz held not one but two meetings.
“Despite organized attempts by the political opposition to ambush, create chaos and disrupt the events,” read a press release from her office, “Rep. Spartz remained committed to an open and respectful dialogue.” Whatever their politics, disgruntled Maine voters would do well to acknowledge the strength of the case against showing up in person these days; without studious commitment to civility and order by all attendees, there’s a high likelihood a town hall descends into an unproductive shouting match — or, obviously worse, an outlet for violence.
Even so, there’s no denying that direct engagement with voters is the best antidote to the indirect rain of executive orders, funding cuts and other edicts coming relentlessly from on high. If our elected representatives fell out of the habit of town halls and “coffee hours,” over the years, it’s an important moment to fall back into something like it. Avoiding the demand only serves to heighten the tension.
Make yourself very available and you reduce your chances of creating some form of flashpoint. The town hall format seems to appeal most to voters’ sense of tradition — and perhaps their more contemporary thirst for accountability. But it is far, far from the only format of outreach available, and voters in Maine do not have to accept nothing at all as an alternative to something.
Like it or not, direct engagement can and does succeed virtually. Today’s elected representative has a wealth of useful options at their disposal: the phone, the web, local TV news, local call-in radio, the lively and responsive email newsletter and a host of social networks in very active use by their constituents. It’s not unreasonable in the least to expect anxious voters to be met with in some of the many places they so regularly are.
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