Town hall brawl? Not this one

Maybe it was the lovely summer evening, but the thousands who showed up Tuesday at Lakewood’s Harry Lang Stadium to talk heath care were in a surprisingly good mood.

Congressman Adam Smith, D-Tacoma, booked the stadium after the RSVP list for his town hall meeting outgrew two smaller venues.

Smith’s previous town hall meeting, in late July, drew 300 people, an impressive head count for its time. But town hall meetings have since hit the big time, with the national media attention and the get-out-the-protest campaigns to prove it.

These days, a Democrat who can’t draw a crowd big enough to cause the fire marshal consternation should be worried that voters don’t think he or she matters.

Smith can return to D.C. with head held high. On Tuesday night, 2,500 people came to quiz him, grandstand and otherwise make their support or opposition to health care legislation known.

The meeting could be described as raucous, but only by Northwest standards. Audience members cheered and jeered, but mostly at each other and mostly in equal opportunity fashion.

One man was heckled for saying he saw something on Fox News; a woman was derided for claiming that half of home foreclosures are due to medical bills. (On that last one, Smith joined the crowd in its disbelief.)

There were angry exchanges between members of the crowd and at least one scuffle involving a man with a sign depicting President Obama with a Hitler mustache, but the gathering was civilized compared to the spectacles at town halls in other parts of the country.

Smith deserves some of the credit. His unwavering commitment to town halls – despite this summer’s specter of large, angry crowds – deflected much of the indignation that has been directed at some of his colleagues. It’s hard to be too mad at a guy who comes to see you even when he knows he’s in for a bruising.

Smith also deftly managed the crowd, bowing to a shouted request to say the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of the meeting but later chiding audience members for shouting down others.

For those who had never met him, Smith’s wry delivery and moderate leanings were no doubt disarming. The congressman knew what he was doing when he prolonged his opening speech to criticize end-of-life consultations as a way to get seniors to settle for less care.

What was on display Tuesday night was passion from both sides of the debate over universal health care. Access to medical treatment is vitally important – important enough to argue over, even vehemently. What better place to hash it out than among neighbors?