Editorial: Let the people speak and politicians listen
Congressional offices are struggling to adapt to a new routine during the first weeks of the Donald Trump administration.
At noon each Tuesday, the onslaught arrives. Throngs of voters, bearing handmade signs and copies of personal testimony, are descending on lawmakers’ offices. They all want to rattle the ears of their senators and representatives.
A movement dubbed #ResistTrumpTuesdays is challenging what all politicians claim to hold dear: the chance to hear from engaged constituents. Do they really?
What about when those energetic voters show up en masse, clogging parking lots, filling hallways and disrupting the business day of tenants in the same office buildings?
That’s what happened last week at Sen. Pat Roberts’ Overland Park office. The result was a new set of rules decreed by Roberts’ staff and begrudgingly agreed to as an all-or-nothing offer. Twelve people will be admitted for the weekly sit-downs; constituents’ names must be submitted ahead of the gathering; they will park in the adjacent grocery store lot; and no recordings.
Nine people made it inside Tuesday for an hourlong session with two staff members taking copious notes. About 100 people were left to voice concerns from the sidewalk, waving signs at drivers passing by.
In Missouri, the crowds have felt better received. One difference: Sen. Roy Blunt’s staff came to them. A staffer stood outside for about 40 minutes this week, listening and taking notes.
People also showed up at the offices of Sens. Claire McCaskill and Jerry Moran. With Moran, they tried small group meetings, but not enough people felt they’d been heard. Time constraints are also an issue, as these offices are contending with the flood of comments piling up on congressional voicemails as well.
A common complaint is that staff tend to fall back on the reply: “I don’t know what the senator’s position is on that” to a wide variety questions. Constituents deserve to hear answers from their elected officials.
Town hall meetings are the answer. Town halls can be held in the evenings or on weekends, making them accessible to more voters. Town halls are also what constituents are consistently requesting from their senators and representatives.
Set some dates.
After all, congressional staffers are adept at polite protocol, nodding at appropriate pauses, to convey that they are intently listening. Less clear is whether the full emotion behind the comment is heard once the message is passed on.
At a town hall, with constituents lining up to take their turns at a microphone, politicians have less cover. And they have little choice but to respond.
This story was originally published February 9, 2017 at 8:30 PM with the headline "Editorial: Let the people speak and politicians listen."