Pictures & Press Coverage of Carol Shea-Porter's Portsmouth Town Hall

Right: Seacoast for Changers Bill Duncan and Larry Drake. Photo courtesy of Daily Kos.

Saturday morning was cold, wet, and windy -- but that didn't discourage local health care voters from turning out early and en masse for Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter's town hall at the Thomas J. McIntyre Federal Building in Downtown Portsmouth (August 29, 2009).

Supporters of affordable, quality health care outnumbered tea party protesters by nearly 3-to-1 in the waiting line. There were no serious altercations outside the event (although a few of my fellow Democrats tried to cut to the front of line, which was bad form and irked the tea party folks so much they asked to police to intervene).

Members of the Leftist Marching Band stopped by around noon and played a lively and suitably patriotic set. By the time the doors opened at 1:00 PM, over 200 people were standing in line to get a seat (only 150 were allowed to enter the building).

There are some terrific pictures of the sign-waving action outside Saturday's event on Daily Kos; a reporter from the Portsmouth Herald also interviewed people who were waiting to get into the event. Details about the heated discussion inside the town hall are reported in the Portsmouth Herald, Foster's, the Concord Monitor, and the Manchester Union Leader.

Lunatic Fringe Department: People leaving the building after the event were serenaded by the vocal harmonies of several Lyndon LaRouche culties carrying a larger-than-life poster of President Obama rendered to resemble Adolf Hitler. No lie, the singing was not too bad -- except for the part about the President's Nazi plan for a government takeover of the health care system and killing grandma.

Seacoast for Change volunteers supported Change That Works organizers and Organizing for America in building early-morning supporter turnout for the Portsmouth event.

Hey, Judd Gregg! How 'bout a public health insurance option?

August 20, 2009: Over three dozen supporters took a stand for real health insurance reform outside of Judd Gregg's health care forum at the Red Hook Brewery. A lone counter-protester showed up to oppose President Obama's plan, but spent the entire time texting on his phone. Below: After our visibility we dropped by Senator Gregg's Portsmouth office to deliver our prescriptions for real health care reform.

More than three dozen volunteers and advocates gathered at the Red Hook Brewery in Portsmouth on Thursday to stand up for health care reform during Senator Judd Gregg's meeting with members of the Portsmouth Rotary Club (August 20). Although he endorses President Obama's goal to bring skyrocketing health care costs under control, Senator Gregg is strongly opposed to creating a government-administered non-profit plan to provide fair competition for the private insurance industry and expand affordable options for working families and the uninsured.

Although he debunked claims that proposed legislation authorizes the creation of "death panels" to pull the plug on grandma, in the past Senator Gregg has resorted to standard-issue GOP talking points to put the scare into Granite Staters who are likely to benefit from the President's plan for health insurance reform. (In a May 28 OpEd in the Concord Monitor, Gregg stated that "the proposals that have been put forward to move to a public plan, or essentially a nationalization of health care in this country, will lead to a Washington bureaucrat being inserted between you and your doctor, long delays in delivery of care and the likelihood of rationing." Or, you know, maybe not.)

At the Rotary Club meeting, Gregg pitched a policy solution that would limit legal recourse for medical malpractice, create incentives for disease prevention, and reward healthy lifestyles - without mentioning that a bi-partisan bill he cosponsored would require employers and individuals to pay into the private health insurance system. Our uneventful visibility was covered by WMUR-TV, the Portsmouth Herald, and the Concord Monitor. Oh yeah, there was one lone anti-Obama protester there, too.

After the visibility, a small group of volunteers paid a drop-in visit to Senator Gregg's Portsmouth office to deliver a "prescription pad" of 30 supporters' personal Rx for real health care reform (see photo) and a copy of a full-page newspaper advertisement featuring the names of 180 NH small business owners who support health insurance reform that includes a public plan option. The noon-time action was organized by Change That Works and the Seacoast for Change Grassroots Network.