After footage from Rep. Jason Chaffetz’s raucous town hall Thursday night went viral online, conservatives questioned the implications of fiery opposition manifesting in such a conservative district.
Rather than serving as an indication of unrest in the Republican base, the demonstration, which was clearly comprised of liberal activists, mirrored early Tea Party protests that overtook town hall meetings across the country in 2009.
Even in reliably liberal districts, concerned constituents stormed town hall meetings to register their displeasure over Democrats’ plans for passing healthcare reform.
In August of 2009, for instance, Tea Party protesters interrupted a town hall meeting with Rep. Lloyd Doggett at an Austin supermarket, prompting CBS News to predict the rally, “could be a sign of what’s to come” for congressional Democrats.
And they were right.
Austin, of course, is situated in Travis County where Obama won 64 percent of the vote in 2008. Like the liberal protestors at Chaffetz’s town hall, these activists in opposition territory were so incensed by their representative’s support for the president’s agenda they mobilized in unprecedented numbers.
In Green Bay, located at the center of Brown County where Obama won 54 percent of votes in 2008, Wisconsin Rep. Steve Kagen experienced the wrath of town hall-goers as well. Even in the overwhelmingly liberal city of Philadelphia, Sen. Arlen Specter was greeted by “an antagonistic, standing-room-only crowd” at a town hall on the healthcare bill.
Tea Party protesters famously stormed town hall meetings from coast to coast that year, building a movement that swept the GOP back into control over the House of Representatives in the 2010 midterms.
Today, Republicans would be wise to learn from the lessons of their own success. When the Tea Party movement developed in the early days of the Obama administration, conservative voters in traditionally liberal locales began to make their voices heard. This didn’t presage a GOP takeover of Austin any more than the Chaffetz town hall predicts a Blue Utah. Instead, the rowdy Austin and Philly events revealed a nationwide energy that proved a harbinger of what was to come.
The Left’s motivation and ability to bombard Chaffetz in typically hostile territory could well prove to be a powerful parallel with the town hall protests that fueled the Tea Party crusade, eventually costing Democrats control of the House.
If a similar pattern emerges, it is a striking barometer by which to measure the intensity of opposition to President Trump’s agenda.
Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
