Meeting the People Vol. 4

Given the constant disruptions from Code Pink and other lefties at everything from local meetings to the Republican Convention, I can't tell you how much I enjoy reading this:

Angry protesters shouted down Democrats at public events from Texas to Pennsylvania over the weekend, leaving the party only one real hope for getting its message out over recess: a backlash.

In Austin

, Texas, Rep. Lloyd Doggett was drowned out by a group of noisy, sign-waving demonstrators who shouted, “Just say no” as he tried to talk about health care reform.

In an e-mail to POLITICO Monday, Doggett called the group a “mob, sent by the local Republican and Libertarian parties” that “came not just to be heard but to deny others the right to be heard.”

In Morrisville, Pa., Rep. Patrick Murphy was forced to scrap plans for a one-on-one meet-the-congressman session when people in the crowd started shouting. Murphy switched to a town hall format mid-event and even then had to ask the audience at times to “be respectful.”

And at a health care event in Philadelphia, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius were repeatedly interrupted by booing and heckling. “We can shout at one another, or we can leave the stage,” Sebelius said at one point. “It’s up to you.”

For Democrats, that’s precisely the problem: Their ability to make their case on health care at public events during the August recess is mostly in the hands of the people who turn out for the events. And if those people want to be disruptive — especially en masse — there’s not much the Democrats can do about it.

“Town halls have become town hells,” said Mark McKinnon, a former adviser to President George W. Bush. “Special interests and opponents have figured out how easy it is to disrupt town halls and get their own message out. The days of the truly free-form town halls may be over.”

Many Republicans have watched with increasing anger the way the left tried to drown out conservative messages by disrupting congressional hearings, speeches by prominent conservatives, and other political events up to and including Code Pink's attempt to disrupt Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican Convention. Republicans are now offering the left a taste of their own tactics, and the left doesn't like it.

Too bad.

Involvement in town hall meetings is not about keeping Democrats from speaking. It's about making sure Democrats understand there are people in their districts who are seriously opposed to what the Democrats are doing and will work to oust any congressman who ignores them.

Dem Congressmen live in a bubble in D.C., hearing only what they want to hear and surrounded by syncophants and like-minded lefties. Their contact with the voters is tightly controlled by their staff, so a little dose of reality in their home districts will be good for them.

Keep it up.