Meeting the People Vol 34

The natives are getting restless:

Jim Oberstar and Chip Cravaack didn’t just face each other this morning at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Auditorium, they faced angry mobs of their opponent’s supporters.

Just seconds into the first comments by DFLer Oberstar, Cravaack supporters began to shout the long-term incumbent down with calls of "liar" and "Obama Junior."

By the time challenger Cravaack’s turn came, Oberstar supporters responded in kind.

Moderators asked for civility and respect, but the cat calls and jeering from a nearly-full auditorium continued through most of the 90-minute forum, often drowning-out candidates' answers over a faulty sound system that lacked volume.

Oberstar was cut short several times, and fell into responding to Cravaack supporters as they heckled him.

"You just don’t want to hear the facts. You don’t want to hear the truth," Oberstar tried to say.

"You don’t know the truth," a Cravaack supporter responded.

The correct line is "you can't HANDLE the truth!"

Anyone who thinks that bipartisanship will be possible on any significant issue in the future is kidding themselves.