Specter Breaks Up Fight at Town Hall, Gets Yelled At

(NEWSER) - To listen to the Obama camp and the liberal media, the anti-Obamacare protesters at last month’s town halls are a grave threat to our way of life, Mary Katharine Harn writes in the Weekly Standard. But “the climate of paranoia and violence that enveloped our political system this August was largely a creation” of the people who railed against it (think Olbermann and Matthews). In more than 400 meetings, “there were fewer than ten documented incidents that could be described as violent.” More»

(AP) - John McCain met with an angry crowd at a town hall meeting about health care reform yesterday, sometimes having to fight to talk and telling one woman who wouldn't stop shouting that she had to leave. The senator hadn't yet opened the meeting to questions when one audience member continuously yelled over him. McCain had security escort her out, saying, "Goodbye, see ya." More»

34% 'more sympathetic' to protesters, 21% less

(NEWSER) - Town-hall protesters have succeeded in making some Americans “more sympathetic” to their health care views, a USA Today/Gallup poll finds. Of 1,000 adults surveyed, 34% say they’re now more sympathetic of the protesters’ stance, while 21% say they’re less. Among independents, that grows to a 2-to-1 ratio: 35% are more sympathetic, 16% less, USA Today notes. More»

(NEWSER) - Roughly 100 supporters and about half as many protesters have already lined up along the road outside Portsmouth High School in New Hampshire, where Barack Obama will hold a health care town hall meeting at 1pm today, the AP reports. About 70% of the 1,800 tickets were distributed by random lottery, and Obama is prepared for fireworks if some of them landed in the hands of health care opponents. More»

Memo urges civil discourse, chanting

(NEWSER) - A progressive organization is trying to turn the tables on conservative protesters who have been interrupting Town Hall discussions on health care reform, Talking Points Memo reports. Health Care for America Now has released a memo outlining tactics for defusing shouting matches and allowing lawmakers to actually answer questions. First suggestion: “Do not debate their ‘policy’ points.” More»