Dems are scared, and pussies...

Honestly if I had not come across this article I would not have believed it. This is shit you cannot make up and speaks to what liberals think of the average american in today's political culture. This is the NYT people, not the Journal or Newsmax.com

BEL AIR, Md. — The reception that Representative Frank Kratovil Jr., a Democrat, received here one night last week as he faced a small group of constituents was far more pleasant than his encounters during a Congressional recess last summer.

Then, he was hanged in effigy by protesters. This time, a round of applause was followed by a glass of chilled wine, a plate of crackers and crudités as he mingled with an invitation-only audience at the Point Breeze Credit Union, a vastly different scene than last year’s wide-open televised free-for-alls.

The sentiment that fueled the rage during those Congressional forums is still alive in the electorate. But the opportunities for voters to openly express their displeasure, or angrily vent as video cameras roll, have been harder to come by in this election year.

If the time-honored tradition of the political meeting is not quite dead, it seems to be teetering closer to extinction. Of the 255 Democrats who make up the majority in the House, only a handful held town-hall-style forums as legislators spent last week at home in their districts.

It was no scheduling accident.

With images of overheated, finger-waving crowds still seared into their minds from the discontent of last August, many Democrats heeded the advice of party leaders and tried to avoid unscripted question-and-answer sessions. The recommendations were clear: hold events in controlled settings — a bank or credit union, for example — or tour local businesses or participate in community service projects.

And to reach thousands of constituents at a time, without the worry of being snared in an angry confrontation with voters, more lawmakers are also taking part in a fast-growing trend: the telephone town meeting, where chances are remote that a testy exchange will wind up on YouTube.

God forbid they face dissent, because everyone knows its the highest form of patriotism, unless conservatives do it...

For incumbents of both parties facing challenging re-election bids, few things receive more scrutiny than how, when and where they interact with voters. Many members of Congress err on the side of being visible, but not too visible, and make only a few public appearances while they are back in their districts.

In other words they are SCARED :)

In New Hampshire, where open political meetings are deeply ingrained in the state’s traditions, Representative Carol Shea-Porter’s campaign Web site had this message for visitors: “No upcoming events scheduled. Please visit us again soon!”

Note to anyone who is represented by her, please visit her (peacefully of course) at her office. at any of these 3 locations...

Washington D.C. Office 1330 Longworth HOB Washington, DC 20515 p. (202) 225-5456 f. (202) 225-5822

Dover Office 104 Washington Street Dover, NH 03820 p. (603) 743-4813 f. (603) 743-5956

Manchester Office 33 Lowell Street Manchester, NH 03101 p. (603) 641-9536 f. (603) 641-9561

Ms. Shea-Porter, a Democrat, attended a state convention of letter carriers on Saturday, but she did not hold a town-hall-style meeting during the Congressional recess. In 2006, when she was an underdog candidate for the House, she often showed up at the meetings of her Republican rival, Representative Jeb Bradley, to question him about Iraq.

so basically she can dish it out but can't take it...

In Iowa, where voters also are accustomed to coming face to face with elected officials,Representative Leonard L. Boswell, a Democrat, provided few opportunities for voters to see him last week. His itinerary included a groundbreaking for a new law enforcement center and a renaming ceremony for a Des Moines post office.

In Maryland, where Mr. Kratovil endured considerable heckling last year over the health care legislation, which he ultimately opposed, he did not hold any large gatherings with voters. After returning from a visit to Afghanistan, he held two events with veterans before arriving at an evening discussion here at the credit union in Bel Air, north of Baltimore.

“It’s dramatically different this break than it was in August of last year,” Mr. Kratovil said in an interview after he finished speaking about financial regulatory legislation. “At town halls, there was a group of people who were there to disrupt, purely politically driven, not there because they wanted to get answers or discuss the issues.”

Mr. Kratovil said seeing voters in their workplace, or in casual settings like soccer fields, actually provided a broader sampling of public opinion than simply holding formal town-hall-style meetings, which often attract only political activists.

An examination of public schedules for dozens of members of Congress last week showed that more House Republicans held open meetings, including several in a series of forums called America Speaking Out, which is intended to help write the party’s agenda if it wins control of Congress in November.

The anger that erupted at meetings last summer — focused, particularly, on the health care legislation — helped draw attention to Tea Party activists. A year later, some of the images are resurfacing once again and will almost certainly be used against lawmakers in television advertisements over the next five months.

Representative Rick Boucher, a Democrat who has represented a wide part of southwestern Virginia for 28 years, has often encountered fierce criticism during his sessions with voters. But he said it was worth listening to the critiques, which often sound nearly identical as he travels across the 23 counties of his district.

“Obviously the town meetings are magnets for people who have a political agenda, but it’s worth putting up with the talking-point-induced political dialogue to get good ideas,” said Mr. Boucher, who was one of the few Democrats last week who did hold a wide-open meeting, which took place Saturday at the high school in Floyd, Va.

“I guess I’m old-fashioned,” said Mr. Boucher, adding that he preferred visiting with voters in person, rather than communicating with them through “tele-town-hall” meetings, a sort of conference call that can include thousands of homes that has been on the rise since the technology was first used in 2006. “I have no plans of changing my approach to this.”

Representative Tom Perriello, a first-term Virginia Democrat, held 21 open meetings last August during the heat of the health care debate. He said that each of the sessions lasted an average of five hours, often ending well after midnight.

“We thought that the best strategy was to let people talk,” Mr. Perriello said. “It was important to stay until people had everything off of their minds.”

Not last week. The meetings were traded for other stops in Mr. Perriello’s central Virginia district, including an elementary school that received broadband Internet through the economic stimulus plan. He also dropped by several businesses, hoping to take the pulse on what he said were the chief issues for his constituents: jobs and the economy.

Without so many lengthy meetings on his agenda, he said he had more time for impromptu encounters with voters. Constituents who were following along received updated information on Twitter, including this bulletin just before lunchtime one day: “Now stopping for a hot dog at Moore’s Country Store!”

And as you all know I LOVE the comment section of these things, so check out these gems.

Bravo for the democrats in refusing to give the neanderthals from the Tea Party their Warhollian twenty minutes of fame. They create a circus atmosphere at these meetings because, after all, they are the clowns. By the way, it's about time that the Times stop giving them attention out of proportion to their numbers.

The Democrat party elite and Obama know what is best for the American public. There is no need for meetings with the people.

(With it being the NYT I can't tell if this person is being serious or sarcastic)

Only Ignorant New York liberals would think it is a good idea for REPRESENTATIVES to avoid the electorate. If your chicken hearted Democratic reps had REAL and HONEST answers to questions, they would not have to hide.
I find it extremely humorous that otherwise intelligent people support a rep's 'right?' to dodge the populace. Must be the kool aid!

So Kratovil has an INVITATION ONLY meeting and is happy? He is too cowardly to have an open town hall. And he criticizes those voters, angry with his ramming the health care destruction bill down their throats, as disruptive? My, what courage.
So what part of Maryland is this politician from? Moscow? St. Petersburg?
NY Times, where are the opposing opinions to these self-serving ones you allow the Democratic politicians to make?

My, my, my, all of a sudden the Democrats (Socialists) don't want to use the democratic process, like meeting their constituents face on. They are skipping the town halls because it now is not in their best interests as it once was when democracy was the framework of the Democratic and Republican parties. The Democrats are into ruling now, not leading, so it makes sense to rule from the bull pit rather than shaking hands and getting out their "compassion". Of course we now know that compassion is not part of the Democratic Party. The like to get elected citizens into office through HORSE TRADING. After all, isn't that how OBAMA became president, through HORSE TRADING.

The Obamatrons keep saying that the "insurance industry" and other nefarious corporate interests are behind what these automatons sexually slur as "teabaggers." I guess that's why the latest Gallup Poll has the Republicans at 49% generically and the Democrats 43%, giving the Republicans the HIGHEST EVER generic percentage of the voters' allegiance since the Gallup Poll began monitoring this stat 60 years ago in 1950.

Yes, in the funhouse mirror of the loyal NYT agitprop-victim, it has to be a big conspiracy, but maybe, just maybe it's because Obama and his merry band are robbing from the Middle Classes to rob the rich, not so rich, middle-income, all to pay the unions and other Democrat constituencies. And to grow a government as big as Greece or Spain or Italy or Ireland or Portugal and become one of the PIIGS, just like California has already done through weak venal liberal politicians giving the state to CALPERS.