From New York Rep. Lee Zeldin who cancelled his town hall to Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz who bolted early to Colorado Rep. Mike Coffman who snuck out a side door, Republicans are increasingly skirting their town halls. They literally can't take the heat, so they're getting out of the kitchen.
It's at once gratifying and a little confounding for constituents, but it doesn't mean voters can't make their voices heard. It just means it’s time to get a little creative. And while large crowds sure are nice, a small group of committed activists can absolutely put together a great action that gets lots of attention (talking to you, red staters!). A quick disclaimer here: I’m not an organizer. I’m just a journalist who has covered direct actions and witnessed firsthand how impactful they can be.
One opportunity for protesting lawmakers who won't face their constituents is to simply show up at their houses. Voters have already been doing that to good effect with Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike. Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Chuck Schumer have both been greeted by hundreds rallying at their homes. So has GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.
The Janesville Gazette reported about 600 protesters gathered Saturday in a city park a few blocks from House Speaker Paul Ryan’s Janesville home. [...] Protesters later marched in downtown Janesville and around the block outside Ryan’s congressional offices, temporarily shutting down traffic.
Ahh, shutting down traffic. This can really get some attention in a district where a representative is trying to ignore you. Back when LGBTQ activists were desperate to get Sen. Harry Reid’s attention in 2010, they choked off traffic on the Las Vegas strip for nearly a half hour. Following Donald Trump’s election, a spontaneous protest of nearly 1,000 people also disrupted traffic near the strip. But LGBTQ protesters clogged that artery with fewer than a dozen activists by holding a giant banner running the width of the main drag. Eight people were arrested during the action.
Blocking traffic has the added benefit of annoying constituents—they’re inconvenienced, and that’s partly the point. In this case, they would be inconvenienced specifically because their representative was too much of a weasel to face her or his constituents at a town hall.
Can you imagine shutting down main street traffic in a relatively small town with a banner reading: “Rep. X, why won’t you speak to us?” or “Rep. X, why won’t you protect our health insurance?” or “Rep. X, don’t you dare take away our Social Security and Medicare.” It’s especially bad optics for a representative who hasn’t been willing to face voters since Republicans took control of the government.
Another option is catching someone guerilla-style at a relatively informal event like a bake sale or a barbeque or even at the grocery store. The key is to ask for something concrete and to have someone with a recording device as simple as a phone (and hopefully a steady hand!) to capture the exchange. Practice makes perfect. DREAM activists made national headlines in 2014 when they confronted Hillary Clinton at Tom Harkin’s annual steak fry.
You may not make national headlines with something that simple, but you can probably make local headlines. And that’s just fine. “Mr. Zeldin, why aren’t you holding town halls? Why won’t you talk to your constituents?” or “Mr. Coffman, can you promise me I won’t lose my healthcare?” If you can make it personal, all the better. Local reporters will likely want a follow up interview with you. But keep the questions relatively simple and pointed, and catch your representative off guard in an environment where they don’t expect it, if possible. Frankly, you want them to start thinking they might be confronted by protesters anywhere and at any moment. If you get in an elected official’s head—always wondering where protesters will pop up next—it absolutely changes the way they think and vote.
This leads me to something slightly more complicated that can make a real splash: interrupting your representative at a speech or some type of ticketed event. Something like a fundraiser is the ultimate safe space for them and usually covered by local media, so you’ll have an instant audience.
In my book, Don’t Tell Me To Wait: How the fight for gay rights changed American and transformed Obama’s presidency, I detailed one of the most effective direct actions staged by LGBTQ activists trying to pressure President Obama to move on repealing the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. They got six tickets to a fundraiser for then-Sen. Barbara Boxer in L.A. It couldn’t have been more friendly territory for him. Obama was also a master at handling hecklers.
But the folks with the protest group GetEQUAL planned a popcorn-style interruption, where they spread out amongst the crowd of roughly 1,000 and once one heckler was silenced, another would start up. Most importantly, they felt the courage of their convictions, as many people around the country do right now. Courage and conviction count for a lot in a direct action. And smart planning.
Here’s a partial excerpt from the book:
A couple minutes into the speech, as Obama began touting Senator Boxer’s contributions to the state, the chanting began. “President Obama, it’s time to repeal ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’” yelled Laura Kanter, who was the first to initiate the protest. The event was being streamed live by CNN, and though it was hard for viewers to hear exactly what Kanter was yelling, Obama’s eyes began to wander a bit as her chant interrupted his cadence. A few moments later, he cupped his hand behind his ear for an instant to hear what all the shouting was about. Then he continued on with his speech.
After about a minute, Kanter was removed, and Dan Fotou started up. Fotou was positioned much closer to the president, so he was visible from the stage and his cries were far more audible and difficult to ignore.
Fotou ramped up as Obama told the crowd that Boxer was “passionate about fighting for jobs—jobs with good wages, jobs with good benefits.” But Obama was starting to get distracted; he and Fotou locked eyes for a moment.
“It’s time to repeal ‘don’t ask, don’t tell!’” Fotou yelled.
Obama stopped abruptly, looked straight at his detractor, then returned, “We are going to do that!” Fire flared in his eyes momentarily, then fell away as he pointed at Fotou, saying, “Hey, hold on a second, hold on a second. We are going to do that.” [...]
Just as Obama headed into the familiar territory of job loss and the economy, Zoe Nicholson picked up where Fotou left off. Obama upped his decibel, trying to push past the racket. But finally, he simply stopped, leaving Nicholson an opening to land an audible blow.
“It’s time for equality for all Americans!” she shouted.
Obama glared at her. “I’m sorry, do you want to come up here?” Obama said, raising his hand and waving her to the stage. […]
The protesters managed to hijack Obama’s speech for about eight minutes. It was activist gold for multiple reasons: it made national headlines, conveyed a specific message, and forced a conversation among White House aides on a topic that wasn’t on their front burner at that moment. The activists later found out that while repealing the military’s gay ban hadn’t been discussed on Air Force One on the way out Los Angeles, it dominated conversation on the way back.
This of course is a more complex action that requires a lot of planning and a support team (as stopping traffic would). It’s also never popular to take on a politician in a room full of her or his supporters, not to mention the fact that challenging Obama at an event for a Democratic senator was controversial even among activist circles. But it can also be incredibly effective. And while you’re likely to be removed, you probably won’t get arrested. Just don’t expect to win any popularity contests with other attendees. The main point one way or the other is that you’re anguished about something—so anguished, in fact, that if you have to do something unpopular, so be it.
Don’t get me wrong—town halls are a great setting in which to reach your representative, and voters across the country have been making national headlines doing it. But if Republicans take those away, as they increasingly seem to be doing, not to worry. You can stage a very effective protest that makes waves with less than a dozen people. It just needs to be well-planned, well-executed, and include a sharp message.
As Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”
If people have other creative ideas for successful actions that they have seen used or even participated in, SHARE THEM BELOW! (Sorry for all caps—they’re all the rage these days.) Links to news stories are encouraged.