Republicans Remind Their Members That It's Fake Town Hall Time

Do you ever go to congressional town halls? I actually do. 3 summers ago I reported on one I went to in Alhambra, which turned into one of the first of the crazy Tea Party anti-healthcare set-ups. It was Adam Schiff's town hall and the local crackpot right was determined to disrupt it. They dominated the scene for a couple of hours before it started-- when no one was there but me and them. But once it started, they pretty much got swallowed up by actual constituents who had real questions. Most people who even noticed their theatrics just found them amusing, rude and silly. Hit the link and look at the photos of yours truly palling around with domestic terrorists and the kind of extremists that were fascinating the national media back then but have increasingly caused the GOP to be looked on with suspicion by normal voters-- even normal Republican voters.

This year the congressional Republicans are changing their tactics for the summer town hall season. Someone leaked this hilarious memo from the House Republican Conference, "Fighting Washington For All Americans." I'm sure it's a perfect strategy in backward areas of Confederate states but I wonder how many Republicans hoping to portray themselves as vaguely "mainstream" are going to use this canned and scripted garbage? Matt Fuller analyzed the whole silly "Politics For Idiots" memo for Roll Call this week:

When House Republicans retreat to their districts for the August recess, they will each be armed with a detailed guide-- an exceptionally detailed guide-- on how to assure their already convinced constituents that Washington is broken.

The August House Republican Conference planning kit, titled Fighting Washington for All Americans, offers a rare glimpse into the constituent outreach efforts of the GOP. Those efforts, it turns out, are highly calculated, hashtag-heavy and rife with references to the video app Vine.

The best way to stay in Washington appears to be to deride Washington, and Republican leadership isn’t going to deviate from that familiar formula.

Of the many topics Republicans could delve into-- the impending debt ceiling debate, immigration or, perhaps, the sequester-- the 31-page GOP packet focuses on safer ground: Obamacare, jobs and the fierce hatred of all things Washington.

It includes a cookbook of events largely aimed at whacking the Obama administration and highlighting House Republicans’ efforts to fight it-- while using social media every step of the way.

There’s an “Emergency Health Care Town Hall,” for starters, with detailed recipes on where to hold the event, how to promote it-- tweet it, Vine it, Instagram it, Facebook it-- and how to hold an “impromptu” media availability to “frame the key takeaways.”

...The first kit offers variations on an old Washington favorite: bashing Washington.

“Washington is out of control,” warns a “sample op-ed” titled “Fighting Washington for You.”

Naturally, it’s not the specific member of Congress’ fault.

“But every day I serve in Congress, I work to fight Washington,” the theoretical House Republican declares in his or her theoretical op-ed.

The memo suggests the member use the op-ed to tout an event and promise attendees won’t get “another boring speech or more inside-the-beltway rhetoric.”

Members should also consider an op-ed about the tea party-IRS scandal and the “rampant overreach of power by the Obama administration-- and what House Republicans are doing to combat it.”

Democrats, for their part, accuse the GOP of creating the very dysfunction it derides.

“As the saying goes, Republicans claim government doesn’t work, then they get elected and prove it,” a senior House Democratic leadership aide said. “With no record to go back home and sell, it’s no surprise that House Republicans will spend the summer regurgitating the same old anti-government rhetoric.”

While Republicans have a familiar rhetoric, leadership does suggest that members seek out diverse groups during the break with “Meetups”-- forums to “ensure the Member is engaging with all demographics.”

“Potential groups to organize Meetups around include women, Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans and millennials,” the kit explains.

As always, don’t forget to assign a staffer to live-tweet the event with photos, Vines and a consistent hashtag. The memo loves the budding Vine app, which has traditionally been used as a means for frat brothers to share their drunken misadventures in six-second bursts, not as a means for House Republicans to spread their limited-government message.

To get the conversation rolling in the right direction, the playbook suggests planting questions: “Prepare a few questions in advance in case the conversation slowly starts.”

“Invite at least 3-4 people with whom the member already has an established relationship,” the memo instructs. “This will strengthen the conversation and take it in a direction that is most beneficial to the member’s goal.”

A successful constituent relations operation, however, is not just about talking the Republican talk; it is about helping people.

The conference suggests that members offer that help in the form of a jobs fair-- as long as members have the opportunity to speak at the fair a few times and can tour the event with the media.

“Target invitations to veterans and college students-- two groups of people struggling to find jobs,” the memo tells Republicans.

...“Use social media to upload photos and videos when possible,” the social-media-obsessed playbook suggests. “Try to tweet at or between each stop.”

Other recommended “issue tours” include:

•         an Energy Production Facility Tour-- “wear a hard hat”
•         a Gas and Groceries Tour-- “wear clothes in which you feel comfortable doing ‘hands-on’ work”
•         a Higher Education Tour-- don’t forget to wear the school’s colors or team gear
•         a Hospital or Health Care Facility Tour-- “utilize the new ‘Vine’ app” and “capture snippets of the tour for a 6-second video that encapsulates the experience”
•         a Main Street Tour #4Jobs-- don’t “overstay” your welcome
•         a Red Tape Tour and Roundtable-- “confirm the status of regulations at each local business and make sure they are discussing regulations that have actually been implemented, not ones that ‘they have heard of’”
•         a Senior Center Tour-- be sure to identify the best time to visit with “built-in crowds”

The memo also suggests plenty of media time, including a “#CutWaste Drive Time Radio Tour,” an editorial board meeting and an “Obamacare Media Tour.”

And there’s also the “Emergency Town Hall: Stopping Government Abuse.”

But whatever you do, just don’t remind voters you are part of that government.

The DCCC sent out a response for media in Simi Valley, Antelope Valley and Santa Clarita, Buck McKeon's district, pointing out that, in effect, the Republican Conference is asking McKeon to campaign against himself next month! "In a stunning irony," they begin, "Congressman Buck McKeon’s House Republican leaders sent him a letter instructing him to campaign against Washington during the August Congressional Recess according to a newly leaked document. The instructions direct Congressman McKeon to campaign against the same Washington that he is part of and responsible for. The instructions include a comprehensive list of how to try and pull the wool over voters’ eyes, with staged events and misinformation campaigns, all in an attempt to convince constituents that Congressman McKeon is not a Member of Congress in Washington."

“National Republicans are telling Congressman McKeon to campaign against the broken Congress-- after he broke it,” said Emily Bittner of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Americans are demanding an end to Washington’s gridlock and partisanship, but Congressman McKeon is getting instructions to lie to voters and campaign against the very Washington he and his Republican leaders created. But the plan doesn’t answer one tough question for Congressman McKeon: how can you be the solution to a broken Washington when you’ve created the problem of a broken Washington?”

  Actual events and tips for Congressman McKeon from the national Republicans’ instructions include:

•         Tour hospitals and healthcare facilities that you have confirmed in advance agree with Republican “messaging theme(s).”
•         Invite attendees to events who will “take [the conversation] in a direction beneficial to the member’s goal.”
•         Host a “Millennial health care forum” with a doctor to discuss young people’s health care concerns-- but make sure to “select a health care provider with the same stance on the issue.”
•         Host a jobs fair for your constituents, and make sure to “include the opportunity to opt-in to your email list” for the unemployed job-seekers, as well as the opportunity to address them “3-4 times throughout the day.”
•         Take photos outside all of the schools you visits wearing the different schools’ “team gear.”
•         Visit senior centers at times with “built-in crowds.”
•         Make sure to “utilize the new ‘Vine’ app” as much as possible, taking care to “post a creative Vine video” whenever you visit sites like energy production facilities.
•         Host a forum for young professionals interested in careers in energy and technology, and use their information to “provide lists for future targeted mailings.”
•         Help constituents pump gas or bag groceries-- but make sure to “wear clothes in which you feel comfortable doing ‘hands-on’ work.”
•         Don’t forget, for each event-- “use a consistent hashtag”!
•         But most important of all: never, ever remind your constituents that it’s your fault Washington is “out of control.”