August 3, 2009: Democratic Senator Urges Fellow Democrats Not to ‘Fall for’ Anti-Reform ‘Sucker Punch’

Democratic Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) says that Democrats and supporters of health care reform should not be swayed by the numerous instances of outrage and disruption effected by conservative and anti-health care reform protesters (see June 30, 2009, July 6, 2009, July 25, 2009, July 27, 2009, July 27, 2009, July 31, 2009, August 1, 2009, August 1, 2009, August 2, 2009, August 3, 2009, August 3, 2009, August 3, 2009, and August 3, 2009). Durbin says he believes Congressional Democrats should continue “speaking with the public, meeting with people who are the health care professionals, and talking about the current situation. I’ve done it and I’ll continue to do it. But you know, I hope my colleagues won’t fall for a sucker punch like this. These health insurance companies and people like them are trying to load these town halls for visual impact on television. They want to show thousands of people screaming ‘socialism’ and try to overcome the public sentiment which now favors health care reform. That’s almost like flooding the switchboards on Capitol Hill. It doesn’t prove much other than the switchboards have limited capacity. So, we need to have a much more balanced approach that really allows members of Congress to hear both sides of the story, rather than being sucker-punched or side-tracked by these types of tactics.” [Think Progress, 8/3/2009]