MELFA, Va. — Rep. Scott Taylor walked into a town hall teeming with constituents ready to confront him Wednesday for supporting Obamacare repeal and President Donald Trump’s agenda. When he walked out, he received lengthy applause and hung around to mingle with his critics, some of whom expressed grudging respect for the man they had planned to protest.
For most of event, the room was quiet enough to hear a pin drop.
The freshman Republican and former Navy Seal used a calm demeanor and produced a case study on how to defuse tensions at a town hall — a method he hopes his GOP colleagues on Capitol Hill can apply during their own events, which have at times been overrun by protests and frustrated constituents.
“Listen, calm’s contagious, especially in events. So is crazy emotions,” he told POLITICO after the town hall, his third in three days across his northeastern Virginia district. “I think it’s important to be calm. My demeanor should always be calm.”
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… he said there are “mechanisms” to reduce the likelihood of disruption and confrontation. For example, Taylor said he’d counsel his colleague to wait silently whenever their room breaks out into sustained applause or jeers — rather than attempt to talk over protests. But if a “rabble rouser” seems intent on disrupting, he’s got another strategy: “you isolate them” until they’re shamed into silence.
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At times, the crowd did seem to test Taylor’s patience, if fleetingly. In response to a question about how he could justify taking taxpayer-funded health care coverage while voting to repeal Obamacare, Taylor noted that he declined to accept coverage afforded to members of Congress. But when he added that he gets his coverage through the Veterans Administration, the crowd groaned.
“You guys have a problem with me being treated by the VA because I was injured in Iraq for you?” an incredulous Taylor shot back.
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- Discussion
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Interesting approach…
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