Congress, hold town halls and listen

Town hall meetings aren’t supposed to be campaign rallies. They’re supposed to give citizens the chance to engage their elected leaders, face to face.

And with revolutionary change on tap in Washington, people across the country want to be heard.

Yet some members of Congress, particularly Republicans, are cancelling town hall meetings to avoid uncomfortable exchanges with people worried about the demise of Obamacare and immigration round-ups.

The shoe was on the other foot eight years ago, after the election of former President Obama. Then, Democrats similarly faced town hall meetings full of people angry about health care reform and the lax enforcement of immigration laws.

Those tumultuous town halls gave rise to the tea party movement. It remains to be seen if today’s protests give rise to another populist wave. But clearly, some Republican members of Congress are troubled by events close to home.

In the last month, angry constituents have confronted lawmakers at a slew of town hall meetings, including those of Gus Bilirakis of Palm Harbor, Jason Chaffetz of Utah and Diane Black of Tennessee.

In Alabama, Congressman Mo Brooks canceled the “Mo Brooks Town Hall” after realizing Democrats planned to attend. His office said the event was meant to be a “private” address to a tea party group, not a “public town hall.” Brooks addressed the tea party group anyway, and alert Democrats showed up and recorded his message on Facebook. They observed Brooks calling Democrats racists who incite violence.

In Tennessee, Rep. Marsha Blackburn removed a city website listing for a “town hall” meeting this week. Her spokeswoman told CNN the meeting would still take place, but the listing was removed because it “placed too much emphasis on town hall.”

In New York, Rep. Lee Zeldin canceled a town hall scheduled for April. A spokeswoman said the event was “co-opted, renamed and rebranded by a group of liberal obstructionists.”

In Arkansas, Sen. Tom Cotton’s staff reportedly shut off their phones and locked the office doors, telling a small group of constituents through an intercom that the senator wasn’t taking meetings with the public.

In Virginia, Rep. Barbara Comstock invited the public to “mobile office hours” at two grocery stores, but when a crowd showed up, she didn’t.

Also in Virginia, Rep. Dave Brat made clear he would hold no more town halls until “our first 100 days agenda is implemented and we come up for a breath of air.” In other words, Brat wants to vote before listening to constituents.

These are turbulent times and citizens want to be heard. Yes, there’s danger for politicians that mayhem will erupt at town hall meetings and the video will go viral.

But there’s also a chance to show leadership, to offer insight and to explain alternatives. Almost every issue is more complicated than most people think. Real statesmen and stateswomen should take the chance to inform, listen and consider.

While many of today’s attendees are worried about health care, it was a conservative Republican who disrupted the recent town hall meeting of Republican Gus Bilirakis of Pasco County, which is just north of Tampa.

As people expressed concern about the loss of Obamacare, Bill Akins — secretary of the county’s Republican Executive Committee — began shouting long-debunked claims that the Affordable Care Act had created death panels.

The video went viral and Akins resigned his post after The Washington Post revealed his Facebook posts contained racist and fake news stories.

Politics is personal, messy and sometimes loud. It takes thick skin to stand before a group of people who disagree with you. And shame on people who scream obscenities or threaten violence. If they can’t follow reasonable ground rules, it’s understandable why a politician would bring the forum to a close.

That said, Ground Rule No. 1 is to convene these forums in the first place.