BEING HEARD ABOVE THE NOISE

posted by Christopher Conover

Last week, Senator John McCain held two town hall meetings in Arizona. What did the Senator say at those events? What were his solutions to problems? Those are questions that were not answered in most reports. Instead what was remarked on was anger at the meetings.

At the Tucson town hall, when McCain talked about reducing the corporate income tax, one attendee yelled, “You’re an idiot.” There were also boos when McCain came in and plenty of catcalls between members of the audience.

As pointed out inPolitico anger wasn’t found at just the McCain town halls. Some said the national anger at most members of Congress, regardless of party, reminded them of the emotion during the town halls on health care two summers ago. Or even the last election cycle, something I’ve written about before.

Just days after the January 8th shooting, President Obama came to Tucson to speak. At the time he said, “But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized – at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do – it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds.” The shouting is back, if it ever really left.

Dr. Susan McManus, a political science professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa says some of the shouting may be due to the fact that Americans don’t feel like Congress is listening so they are resorting to shouting. Not all the shouting is at elected officials, but also at each other during the meetings. Attendees are telling each other to sit down or to shut up.

Will the yelling continue through this election season? Will the anger translate into changes in who represents us? Only time will tell.