Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2009 • Residents pack McClintock Town Hall meeting

Publisher’s note: This story originally appeared in the Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2009, edition of the Lassen County Times.

It was standing room only at Jensen Hall when U.S. Congressman Tom McClintock visited Susanville for a Town Hall meeting on Thursday, Sept. 3.

Rocky Deal, chairman of the Lassen County Republican Committee, said he was overwhelmed by the turnout. He said the last Town Hall meeting held by Congressman John Doolittle a couple of years ago drew about 200 people.

“We set up about 400 chairs,” Deal said, “and there were a lot of people standing. I was very impressed with the turnout and the folks expressing their opinions.”

While many Town Hall meetings held around the country this August over the proposed health care reform debate created lots of fireworks, Deal said the majority of those in attendance were in favor of “going slow” on changing the national health care system.

“But there were people who spoke in favor” of the proposal by the Democrats, Deal said.

Lassen County voters have a long history of supporting Republican candidates.

Deal said one participant called McClintock “a liar” as he discussed his position on health care reform, and then she accused everyone attending the event of being “bubbleheads.”

“I thought Tom handled it very well,” Deal said. “He encouraged opposing viewpoints, and he made a point of making sure the microphone went to people who wanted to speak in favor of the bill. He told her, ‘My 25 years in political life has taught me that when your opponent resorts to name calling, they’ve lost the argument.”

Deal said McClintock brought all 1,100 or 1,200 pages of the health care reform bill with him and read specific portions of the bill when people questioned his position.

“When someone said, ‘You’re lying,’ he said, ‘Here’s the section to look at,’” Deal said.

Deal also praised McClintock for his grace under fire.

“It’s something I couldn’t do,” Deal said. “I couldn’t stand up there and listen to people call you names and not know what they’re talking about. I thought he handled it pretty well.”

Deal accompanied McClintock during a visit to Herlong High School earlier in the day. He said the congressman gave the students a history lesson and a tutorial on the Constitution.

“He brought in Locke, Tocqueville, Adams and Jefferson and gave their points of view,” Deal said. “He brought up the Federalist Papers, and to me it was a great history lesson. He mainly talked about our democracy working. It swings back and forth, but ultimately it works. So have faith in democracy. Don’t get frustrated. Things go back and forth, but eventually they work themselves out.”

Deal said McClintock also talked about the democratic process and noted how the stimulus bill got “dropped in the hopper” at 11 p.m. one night and then the debate was supposed to begin at 10 a.m. the next morning. The bill was close to 1,000 pages long and Congress passed it by the close of business that day.

Deal said McClintock told the students if the deliberative process is going to work the way the Founding Fathers intended it to work, there has to be time for reading the bills, preparing positions and debating the issues.

“I’m a historian,” Deal said, “so when he (McClintock) brings in historical examples to bolster his point of view, I enjoy that. I like listening to him.”

Deal said about 2,000 residents attended a Town Hall meeting in Grass Valley/Nevada City and the congressman drew a large crowd at Shingle Springs as well.

“He was hitting it hard through the weekend,” Deal said.

Community barbecue
McClintock will be back in Susanville at noon on Saturday, Sept. 19 for a free barbecue lunch at Riverside Park sponsored by the Lassen County Republican Central Committee. State representatives Dan Logue and Dave Cox also are expected to attend the barbecue.

The public is invited to attend the event and meet personally with their political representatives.