About 140 people turned out at an 11:30 AM town hall-style event held by Deb Fischer (NE-R) on Friday, June 16, 2017 at Omaha Metro Community College.
Fischer opened by talking about the committees she was on and what they do. But most people wanted to know about the pending health care bill. Many came prepared with small handmade signs saying “Demand Single Payer”which they held up whenever health care was mentioned.
Fischer's staffers traded off bringing microphones to questioners on either side of the room, carefully avoiding sign holders.
The crowd was courteous but not happy. Each questioner tried to elicit a direct answer to a specific query, but Fischer was crafty. Nothing she said was committal, while all of it appeared to agree with underlying shared values.
She claimed, for example:
- That she knows how to work across party lines, citing alliances with Democrats on fairly nondescript legislation. Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse was mentioned by name, and to listen to Fischer, Senator Cory Booker is her BFF.
- That she is and always has been against charter schools, and is in favor of equal access for students with disabilities. When pressed, however, she admitted that she believes Betsy DeVos to be an excellent Secretary of Education.
- That she believes in climate change and that at least one component of its cause is mankind, but she's against carbon fee and dividend (notwithstanding the fact that it was originally a Republican plan). Translation: She's not going to take any positive action, even though she serves on an environment committee.
- That she cares about pipeline safety (but notably did not mention her pro-KXL position).
- That she thinks any health care plan should include coverage for pre-existing conditions, but ignored a challenge about the inappropriateness of replacing that most popular ACA provision with unaffordable high risk pools.
- That she will look into Senator Elizabeth Warren's student loan bill and will support students’ needs (whatever that means).
- That she is pro-life, but (hypocritically) against funding even the most noncontroversial Planned Parenthood services.
- That she believes Trump should release his tax returns. Next question, please.
Fischer was very adept at avoiding a direct answer. To the yes/no question, “Will you vote on a healthcare bill that has not been scored by the CBO?” her answer was, “I want a CBO scoring before I vote.” Everyone in the room was aware that her voting record doesn't match her rhetoric; she only sought to appear to agree with our positions.
Only one attendee sang her praises. You'd think she might have seeded the audience better.
One questioner stated simply, “I'm not going to make my comment into a question because I know you will just repeat the Republican talking points.”Fischer's response did not disappoint.
When challenged on the senate's work on the health care bill being conducted behind closed doors, Fischer's honest defense was, “Any Republican who wants to join that meeting can do so.” The audience was not fooled, asking, “What about Democrats?” She replied, “We have invited Democrats and they have declined.”
That may be true too, and the reason may be that Democrats want to avoid accepting any hollow gestures to make the bill appear to be bi-partisan. Everyone knows the final bill will not include any Democratic policies.
Luckily for the senator, one woman who was given the mic seemed completely unable to articulate a question. Fischer graciously gave this woman excessive airtime, letting her go on and on about her illness, her diet and exercise plans, her treatments, her children's professions, where she lived now and where she lived before, etc. She even returned to this woman after moving on, clearly in an effort to use up time in the meeting.
Last at the microphone was an immigrant who wanted to know if she supported Trump's travel ban. She gave a rambling, indefinite answer, then indulged the audience's urging by asking if she had answered his question. He shrugged and signaled “a little”.
The whole event was predictably uninformative. There were no incidents and no answers,which means Fischer unequivocally fulfilled her purpose for the gathering. After all, a “listening session” by it's very name can have no way to be measured for success or failure. And when the“listener” avoids getting nailed, it easily meets today's exceedingly low bar for a successful Republican performance.
Moreover, Fischer was good at seeming to say everything she thought the audience wanted to hear, but knew she didn't really believe. This makes for excellent news coverage of the event without jeopardizing her standing with party adherents.
Deb Fischer represents all that is wrong with rank and file Republican politicians: zero talent as a legislator, but an impressive ability to dodge every hard question while still sounding rhetorically reasonable.
Fischer honors a tradition established by another lackluster US senator from our state, Roman Hruska, who in 1970 infamously defended a mediocre judge by declaring that mediocre people deserve representation. She easily fulfills all job requirements for being an extraordinarily inadequate lawmaker who rests on the assurance that those who show up to ask tough questions do not represent most voters.
I hope we can help her adjust that reasoning, and curtail her senate career in 2018.