Political ramblings about ^ that town hall meeting below.
So first of all, thanks to all the amazing people who made that town hall explode like it did. Chaffetz isn’t lying at the beginning when he says the venue had to switch -- I got a bunch of Facebook posts of conspiracy theories saying he was trying to jump around and confuse people, but I honestly believe he and his staffers didn’t expect this sort of turn out. It’s fantastic that such a dramatically liberal voice would come out of the wood works for a Utahn state representative.
That said, I can’t help but feel like this won’t accomplish anything. In fact, it feels like Chaffetz played that crowd like a fiddle, and scored a huge political win that night.
See, it’s no secret that Utah is a Red State, through-and-through. Districts are gerrymandered to all hell, Salt Lake is pretty conservative compared to other urban areas, and almost everywhere else is exactly the rural American landscape that elected Trump in November. In short: unless a major political upheaval comes to Utah, the only chance we have of electing a non-Republican candidate is a very compelling, Mormon, third party candidate (*cough* McMullin *cough*).
So from Chaffetz’s perspective, a jeering crowd of liberals simply isn’t his constituency, even if they are technically living in his district. Even if they voted for him! Chaffetz is a politician, and his motivations are driven by political gains; in Utah that means being the most compelling Republican he can be.
When I watched that town hall meeting, I was struck by how clearly Chaffetz demonstrated he knew what the majority of the crowd cared about, but fed them controversial standpoints that disagreed consistently all night. Many of his political stances were introduced by “I bet you liked <X>!” or “Now, you aren’t going to like <Y>...” And as the night wanes on, he became more and more audacious with his opinions, saying things like “I do believe in my heart of hearts, that given the choice that was before us, by far Donald Trump was the better choice (23:29)” and “So, what do y’all think of Ms. DeVos? You like DeVos? Yeah! (33:38)”... “You’re gonna like the bill I introduced, though, to abolish the Board of Education! (34:05)”
Statements like those were obviously met with uproar from the crowd, and usually a huge shit-eating grin from Chaffetz. I suspect because the congressman knows full well that riling up that crowd just gives him a narrative to spin to the side of the aisle he actually cares about winning over. And sure enough, in the few days after the event, Chaffetz spun the tale of how the crowd was “a paid attempt to bully and intimidate”:
He’s wrong, for the record. I can’t personally testify for each person in that crowd, but I can personally testify that at least a dozen people there were personal friends who posted savagely on Facebook throughout the event. There is a strong progressive sentiment in Salt Lake that Chaffetz is intentionally trying to disguise, because the political base he has control of will believe that story, and because it paints him as a hero standing up for what he believes in, rather than a scumbag politician lying through his teeth to grab at power.
Everyone is well aware how toxic and unpleasant our political landscape has become. What frustrates me is that the voice of reason -- “Hey, shouting over each other isn’t accomplishing anything. We should have a calm discussion!” -- is now just a talking point to gain a moral high ground in an argument. You don’t actually need to contribute meaningfully to a dialogue, you just need to puncture the bubble of righteous (or unrighteous) indignation. In fact, I think the core problem isn’t yelling or shouting -- I think it’s the compulsion people have to win an argument, rather than engage in conversation. But now, simply saying “hey, you’re being rude and disregarding my opinion!” is enough to win, so all substance in that point is gone.
I want to believe that Chaffetz will lose favor due to this town hall meeting, and that the fervor that has clearly flared up in the progressives of our nation burns bright. I hope that fire leads to positive change, and not a radicalized left-wing counterpart to the Tea Party a few years back. And I really hope that these terrible policies that have been put out over the last few days will remain opposed, overturned, and disavowed by the rest of our governing system.
But this is politics, and politics is a game about winning -- not about doing what’s best for the people.
