Former John Locke Foundation election panelist John Gizzi follows Rick Henderson’s lead in examining congressional plans for town hall meetings.
While Henderson and colleagues polled the entire North Carolina delegation, Gizzi focuses his latest Human Events column on Democrats facing tough re-election battles:
A survey conducted by the National Republican Congressional Committee
shows that of 75 Democratic House members who are targeted for defeat
by the GOP, 65 have not yet scheduled a town hall meeting with their
constituents.The figure is astounding, to say the least. The ?Gang of 65? includes
freshmen who rode in on the national Democratic tide in ?08, among them
Pennsylvania Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper (who faces a stiff challenge from
car dealer and conservative GOPer Mike Kelly) and Ohio Rep. Mary Jo
Kilroy, who won a much-disputed ?squeaker? against Republican state
legislator Steve Stivers and now faces him in a rematch.In
addition, many Democratic ?sophomores? who came in on a nationwide wave
of anger against the Bush Administration and the Republican-run House in
?06 and then won on Barack Obama?s coat-tails in ?08 are also AWOL when
it comes to scheduling meetings for constituents. These include
two-termers Jason Altmire and Chris Carney of Pennsylvania, both of whom
face stiff re-election challenges in 2010.Even surprise winners
of special elections in historically Republican districts, but who are
under strong fire this year, are among the 65 who do not have town
meetings on their calendars. Democratic Rep. Bill Foster won the
Illinois seat of former House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert in a dramatic
upset in ?08 and Scott Murphy won the upstate New York district of
fellow Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand when she was named to the Senate last
year. Murphy won in the 20th District by just over 500 votes.
