President Obama’s town hall meetings have been “manufactured” with more favorable audiences, Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele suggested Friday.
“Despite what is seen at the president’s manufactured town halls, fewer and fewer Americans are supporting government control of health care,” Steele said in advance of Obama’s town hall meeting in Montana today. “Like Old Faithful, the president’s performances simply make for a good show.”
While many lawmakers have faced angry confrontations with constituents at their own town halls, Obama received a warmer audience during a town hall in New Hampshire this week.
While the RNC doesn’t believe the president has “stacked the deck” with a friendly audience, one official said Friday, the GOP doesn’t necessarily feel the president’s audience was representative of many citizens’ dyspepsia over healthcare.
Many political observers are looking forward to Obama’s Montana town hall today, where the distribution of tickets — first come, first served — could lead to a more raucous confrontation with the president.
“As President Obama takes his traveling road show to Montana, Colorado, and Arizona, Americans simply aren’t buying his efforts to repackage his government-run experiment,” Steele said.