Never doubt that a few people can make a big difference.This comes from a poll at USA Today, not exactly a conservative rag:
In a survey of 1,000 adults taken Tuesday, 34% say the sometimes heated protests at sessions held by members of Congress have made them more sympathetic to the protesters’ views; 21% say they are less sympathetic.
Independents by 2-1, 35%-16%, say they are more sympathetic to the protesters now.
The findings are bad news for President Obama and Democratic congressional leaders, who have scrambled to respond to town halls marked by aggressive questions and noisy demonstrations by those opposed to plans to overhaul the health care system…
There’s some tolerance for noisy disputes at town hall meetings. By 51%-41%, those surveyed say individuals making “angry attacks” on a health care bill reflected “democracy in action” rather than “abuse of democracy.” However, by 59%-33% they say “shouting down supporters” of a health care bill was an abuse of democracy.
1 comment:
I've been to several of these town hall meetings in the past few weeks. It doesn't seem to me that anyone is deliberately "shouting down" anyone else. Passions are running high, and people respond to things that are said, particularly outright lies or stupid statements, with shouting. They shout, then they tend to stop and let the person continue. People have the impression that protesters are shouting others down because that's the way the media has portrayed what's going on.
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