We’ve all seen the many viral videos of town hall meetings during which Republican voters are haranguing their elected Republican officials over the gutting of federal programs crucial to American families. As a result, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) has been advising Republicans to stop holding town hall meetings for their constituents. What??? Obviously there is growing fury across the country over Trusk’s (see what I did there?) authoritarian overreach and callous disregard for Americans, even the ones who voted for him. And the NRCC and elected Republicans just want to ignore it?
What has been the Democrats’ response to this so far? They’ve certainly been in a rush to mock the Republican cowardice for refusing to meet face-to-face with their own constituents and listen to what they have to say. A little irony here as it’s been quite a while since Democrats have actually listened to and understood what it is Democrats expect from their elected officials. But I digress. Well, here’s a thought for elected Democrats since they’ve had little of that lately: Instead of mocking Republicans for not holding town hall meetings, why don’t elected Democrats fill the gaping hole left by elected Republicans’ disengagement? First, elected Republicans don’t care at all if Democrats mock them. In fact, they feed off it. And second, they’ve made it clear they no longer care what their own constituents have to say. But here’s the thing: Republican constituents still want to be heard voicing their disapproval of this administration eliminating federal programs created to help Americans, and I believe they want to be heard by anyone at this point.
This is where an opportunity for Democrats has been created. Elected Democrats everywhere should give both Democrats and Republicans the venues to engage face-to-face with their government representatives since elected Republicans apparently are not. Elected Democrats should be holding town halls all over the country, filling the gap by encouraging both Democrats and Republicans to attend and speak up. Answer their questions and possibly even alleviate some of their concerns. No matter the party affiliation, all Americans are worried at this point — about rising prices, inflation, tariffs, federal programs, downward stock market trends, undermining Social Security and Medicare, alignment with Russia and other dictators, possible recession, quality of life in America, and the Republicans now casually throwing about the words “World War III” like it’s nothing more than a video game.
So I urge elected Democrats everywhere to take this opportunity to engage with both Democrats and Republicans because they ALL want to hear from and engage IN-PERSON with Congress right now. Elected Republicans are taking that opportunity away from their constituents so please, Democrats, step into the breach and reach out instead of mocking. Well, OK. You can still mock, but only because elected Republicans deserve it for shutting off their own constituents. But who knows? Reaching out and listening just might make a difference to Democrats winning back some much-needed seats in Congress in the mid-terms and maybe winning back the White House in 2028.
Sincerely,
M. Slivinske
Arroyo Grande
