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| Angry constituents swarm liberal Congresscritter's coffeehouse soiree |
| 2009-08-08 |
| U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Boulder, was swarmed by people Friday morning when he dropped by the Vic's coffee shop in north Boulder, expecting a friendly chat with a couple dozen constituents. But the event, the first of a series of meetings dubbed "Congress on Your Corner," drew hundreds of people, many with health care issues on their minds. Rantburg Fun Trivia Fact(tm) #1,246: Jared Polis is the son of Susan Polis Schutz, the "Colorado Sappho," who wrote all those kitschy and cloying Blue Mountain Arts greeting cards and dorm-room posters in the 1970s. "The idea is that it's so hard to get your average constituent to make it out to a public meeting, that the congressman goes out to where the people are," said Lara Cottingham, Polis' press secretary. "Usually it's 12, maybe 30 people who show up." "And they just sit there and nod approvingly." "Obviously," continued Cottingham, turning to look at the crowd spilling into the parking lot, "all bets are off today." Polis spent nearly two hours dug in behind a table set up on the sidewalk outside the popular morning coffee shop, and a crowd of people jostled around him, waiting to ask a question and straining -- hands cupped to their ears -- to hear his answers. "He basically hid from us," said Richard McCurdy, who had given up on talking to Polis. "He passed out cards and didn't let us speak out in a real town hall." As Jared's mom might have put it in her trademark style of non-rhyming verse: The Congressman hides Cottingham said that the event wasn't meant to be a town-hall style meeting; it was designed, instead, to allow people to speak to Polis one-on-one. And, she said, anyone who filled out a card -- and who didn't get a turn to speak -- will get a personal phone call from the congressman in the coming days. "This is what democracy is all about," Polis said as he left, already late for his next appointment. "Grumble, grumble, bloody peasants! grumble grumble." "I did a lot of listening, a little bit of talking, and it's great to see this kind of engagement." "No lemmmee outta here!" h/t Mike Potemra @ National Review, who notes: Boulder is a notorious liberal stronghold, . . . If Obama's having trouble selling it in Boulder freakin' Colorado, you can stick a fork in it. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #3 I'm beginning to wonder if the garden variety "Liberals" are starting to wake up, and find they don't really like the specter Statism? It's all fun and games to whine and gnash ones teeth I guess, well, that is until the reality of it sets in. I hope and pray that 0's, and the Dems collective over reach is what brings about the destruction of the Statist movement here in the United States. |
| Posted by: Injun Grinesing9686 2009-08-08 12:30 |
| #2 I'm not sure I'd call that 'hiding'. |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2009-08-08 12:17 |
| #1 He can run back to Washington and hide among his cronies in the House - until the next election. |
| Posted by: Richard of Oregon 2009-08-08 10:53 |