Paul Tonko, a freshman representing NY-21, held a big health care town hall Tuesday night in Bethelehem's Elm Avenue Park.
The other side, mostly angry Ron Paul cultists, was well-represented, but not a majority of the 500 or so in attendance.
Tonko is a sponsor of HR 676 -- the House single-payer bill -- and a strong supporter of the public option, which he described as the compromise between single-payer and doing nothing.
He got booed some for that, but he did not back down during 90 minutes of questions, most, alas, from the other side.
Details, below.
First of all, I was not tape-recording or taking notes, because I decided to put a sign I picked up at Netroots Nation to good use.
Before the program started, I did look for photo ops of wingnut signs, and found just a few that crossed the line, like the one at left.
When Tonko first came to the stage, I noticed a bunch of teabaggers moving to the back of the stage, so that their signs would be visible to the crowd and the TV cameras.
So that's where my sign -- with "Health Care for ALL" on one side, and "HEALTH CARE REFORM, We want discussion not disruption" on the other -- and I went.
I got a good spot behind the stage (right behind the chair Tonko sat in for a few minutes), flashed the "discussion not disruption" side to the crowd and cameras, and held up that sign there for 90 minutes or so.
It's an interesting perspective, visually.
The program started with Tonko making introductory remarks, then introducing three constituents with health insurance horror stories.
A small business owner who had to stop providing health insurance to her employees because of the inexorable double-digit annual premium increases; a near-Ph.D. grad student, whose near-Ph.D. wife has a melanoma history and is now pregnant (his concern was obviously about what would happen if neither of them got a job next year with decent insurance); and a diabetic mother without insurance, who broke down while telling her story about not being able to afford necessary medicine and doctor visits.
Some of the teabaggers booed that story.
Tonko then took more than 20 questions from the audience, moderated by former Channel 13 anchor Lydia Kulbida, who asked questioners to be brief and stick to one question so that Tonko could take the maximum number of questions.
Well, the outraged "real Americans" who had gotten in line a hour before the event started would have none of that.
Almost every one of them had a long introductory statement, followed by several questions. They would not leave the mike until a staffer asked them to.
The first questioner set the tone, suggesting that should health insurance reform pass, the only honorable thing that legislators who voted for it can do is to commit suicide, Japanese-style.
About two-thirds of the questions were from the Paul cultists, waving their Constitution, complaining about the debt, demanding tort reform, and bemoaning socialism.
Tonko is an experienced politician, and he handled them well. To one Constitution question, he cited the general welfare clause, and noted that Social Security and Medicare are constitutionally valid because of that clause.
After the fifth or so Paul cultist rambled on and on, I joined with others in shouting "What's the question" and/or "one question." That had some limited effect on that questioner, though not on subsequent questioners.
Overall, this was a good event for Tonko and for the majority who favor a public option.
The teabaggers were outnumbered, out-signed, and often out-applauded. They are crying about it here.
The key at town halls, as on Election Day, is turning out our people.
When we do, we win.