Action 55 -Hold town halls - OR ELSE!
Background: Indivisible is on fire on this issue! And we agree with them. March 15-23 is the next Congressional Recess. If our elected legislators are too cowardly or too exhausted to meet with their constituents, they need replacement ASAP, like a dead battery in a life support device.* Republicans are being told by their leadership to avoid town halls, because the ones they held in February were terrifying for them. While Chellie Pingree held a February town hall meeting, Susan Collins and Jared Golden both have a long history of avoiding them like the plague – or, rather, like Republicans. Modern Town Halls can be held over Zoom, so there is absolutely no excuse for a legislator to avoid them.
Action: Here’s what Indivisible recommends: “CALL YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS RIGHT NOW AND DEMAND A TOWN HALL” between March 15 and March 23. The following links go to Indivisible websites with talking points. If you are not comfortable with your information being harvested by Indivisible, you can call the legislators directly. Be polite but assertive. They work for YOU, not the plutocrats and the wannabe dictator duo of Trump/Musk.
Call Senate Republicans – This would be Susan Collins. She needs to have her spine stiffened before she caves even further to the MAGA agenda. Her confirmation votes were an embarrassing disaster.
Call Senate Democrats – This should route to Angus King’s office. If not, you can call him directly. We want him to continue to hold the line against extreme MAGA cuts and demand real guardrails to protect against the Trump-Musk coup. It would be great to welcome him in person to several venues in CD 2. Ask how we can help facilitate that.
Call House Democrats – Especially Jared Golden. He needs to hear from us. No more DINO behavior. No business as usual. His sanguine approach is out of date and doesn’t meet the exigencies of the moment.
Fair warning for Collins and Golden: If they continue in their intransigence about holding town halls, they can expect theatrics. For example, “empty chair” town halls with an effigy of a chicken in the seat of honor. Check out this Indivisible video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnkRO290PHc If Collins or Golden continue to dodge, consider inviting a challenger or a potential candidate from the opposing party to participate in their stead. This is hardball, but it’s time. Stress that we would prefer to see the legislator in person: sending a staffer is not the same thing. Pledge that we all will work to assure that the town hall does not devolve into an unproductive shouting match. Again, a Zoom town hall is perfectly safe and controllable, but needs to be open and honest. They do not get to pre-select participants or pre-approve questions!
Contact: (These are the direct lines. The links above go through Indivisible.)
Senator King’s DC office (202) 224-5344
Senator Collins’ DC office (202) 224-2523
Jared Golden’s DC office: (202) 225-6306
Urgency: First week in March, to allow time for booking venue and arranging security, if they are actually going to show up in person. While they are deciding when and how to hold the meetings, we need to decide how to collect and organize our questions.
Extra Credit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPzLWyWl-fs (Republicans are told to avoid town halls)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhXhGaruL1E (Chellie Pingree’s town hall in Feb.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tm5yWP2WJY (Sen’s Van Hollen and Alsobrooks’ town hall)
* Arguably democracy is on life support. Right now, it’s not Congress that is keeping it alive, it’s the judiciary, and Musk has plans for neutering that branch.