This Arlen Specter town hall is making headlines today:
Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) fired back Tuesday at a raucous town hall audience that booed and jeered him for more than an hour.
Specter immediately tried to temper the rough crowd, which started booing him before the question-and-answer session even began, with the blunt warning: “If you want to stay in here, we’re not going to tolerate any demonstrations or booing. So, it’s up to you.”
But minutes later during the senator’s response to a question on whether Americans would be able to maintain their private insurance under the Democratic health care proposal, a protester who was not selected to speak stood up, walked into the aisle and began shouting at him.
“Do you want to be led out of here?” the senator told the man, pointing at him. “You’re welcome to go.”
Specter then walked toward the heckler who was being pushed back toward his seat by another member of the crowd.
“Now wait a minute,” Specter shouted repeatedly into the microphone. “You want to leave? Leave.”
“I’m going to speak my mind before I leave, because your people told me I could,” the protester said once the room quieted down. “I called your office, and was told I could have the mike to speak. And then I was lied to because I came prepared to speak.”
“I’ll leave,” the protester said, as several police officers stood nearby. “And you can do whatever the hell you please to do. One day God’s going to stand before you, and he’s going to judge you and the rest of your damned cronies up on the Hill. And then you’ll get your just deserts. I’m leaving.”
The man received loud applause and shouts of support as he walked out of the room.
Here’s the video, which also covers what happened after the incident:
Here’s another clip from the same meeting:
Specter clearly was overwhelmed by what happened and, if this is a sign that the voters in Pennsylvania are angry, he could find himself in trouble in 2010.
