Hardball Time? A Tale of Two Town Hall Approaches

If you’ve been following the Washington State Congressional delegation on recess, you might have noticed things got a little bizarre today.

Brian Baird suddenly took a sharp turn to the left, and adopted the same tack as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, going on the attack against critics of health care reform.  Baird compared critics’ tactics at town halls as similar to the “Brown Shirts.”

The response to his new plan of attack, as you might guess, has spanned from ridicule to indignation.

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UPDATE: Baird Refuses to do “Face-to-Face” Meetings

This time last year, U.S. Representative Brian Baird was preparing for the town hall circuit.

Out on summer recess, on August 7 last year Baird held a town hall in one of the many rural (and conservative) corners of his district at Rochester High School.

So how many town halls does Baird have scheduled this recess? According to his office: Zip. Zero. Nada.

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Public Plan: Larsen Opposed, Baird Equivocates

President Barack Obama’s window to institute a government-run health care plan is quickly closing.  For several weeks now, public support has been slipping for the President’s public plan.  Now, that slip in public opinion is causing even members of his own party to more carefully hedge their bets.

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Scientific Fact-Finding or Fleecing Taxpayers?

Congressman Brian Baird represents Washington State’s 3rd Congressional District, which along the I-5 corridor, runs basically from Olympia to Vancouver.

Normally one to keep a low profile, this week, Baird drew national attention. And not the kind of attention that a candidate running for re-election in times of financial hardship for taxpayers wants to have.

In yesterday’s Wall Street Journal (“Congress’s Travel Tab Swells“), Baird made the cut for Congressman who took questionable trips on the taxpayer dime:

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