海角大神

Sitting in the front row of a congressional constituent day in Greensboro, Ga., with one of his daughters perched on his knee, Ron Denham felt like he was witnessing democracy in action.

The people at the meeting were loudly, assertively, and peacefully demanding accountability and clarity from a federal government official. This, Mr. Denham told his 10-year-old twin daughters, was a real-life 鈥渃ivics lesson.鈥�

Then he walked outside after the event, and there 鈥渨ere state police cars everywhere.鈥� Someone had called for backup. 鈥淪uch a tremendous police response to free speech,鈥� Denham says, dismayed.

Then former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory suggested that a series of similarly contentious town halls across the country were the result of paid protests.

As a result, Denham says he has gone from 鈥済alvanized鈥� citizen to one 鈥渙n fire.鈥�

Until last month, Denham did not know which congressional district he lived in, he says in a phone interview. But last Friday, he drove an hour and a half from his suburban home near Atlanta to the constituent event held by the offices of Georgia's two senators and a representative from a different district just so he could see and be heard.

He is one of the citizen activists who has risen up in what appears to be an uncanny reprisal of the 2009 birth of the tea party 鈥� but this time on the left.

In 2009, the Democratic playbook involved avoiding town halls and dismissing protesters as paid stooges. Then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) famously said the protesters were not grass roots but fake 鈥淎stroturf.鈥� A year later, tea party fervor reshaped Congress, with Democrats losing 63 seats in the House and five in the Senate. The Democrats have never recovered.

Today, the Republican playbook involves avoiding town halls and dismissing protesters as paid stooges. Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R) called the protest that shouted him down at a recent town hall a 鈥減aid attempt to bully and intimidate.鈥� Only 10 Republicans members of Congress are planning town halls next week, notes David Hawkings of .

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a dangerous gamble, for democracy over the long haul but also for the lawmakers鈥� own self-preservation as soon as the next campaign,鈥� he writes in his blog.

Many political analysts agree. Republican lawmakers ignore Denham and his twin daughters at their peril. The events are certainly uncomfortable. Chants of 鈥淪hame!鈥� and 鈥淒o your job!鈥� have punctuated recent town halls. But, as in 2009, they speak to a deep unease that cannot be conveniently ignored.

鈥淒emocracy is a messy thing, and this shows it 鈥� and it鈥檚 also a fragile thing,鈥� says James Thurber, founder of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University in Washington. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why members of Congress have got to get used to this and listen to the feedback or there will be consequences for them, electorally.鈥�

How Republicans have responded

Some have. Rep. Justin Amash (R) of Michigan stayed an extra 40 minutes to talk with angry constituents. And Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R) of Florida rejected the allegations that boisterous constituents at his events were bused in and paid, responding: 鈥淢ost of these people are my constituents."

But many Republicans have been knocked off-balance. One California representative was escorted out of a recent meeting by police, and several others have canceled events, citing the uncomfortable atmosphere.

On one hand, the trend 鈥� so soon after the tea party anger of 2009 鈥� points to the rise of what political scientists call 鈥渘egative partisanship.鈥�

鈥淥ne of the things we鈥檙e seeing in American politics right now is it鈥檚 easier to get people energized in opposition to things they don鈥檛 like than to get them energized to support anything their party or president is doing,鈥� says Alan Abramowitz, a political scientist at Emory University in Atlanta. 鈥淧eople are really angry and worked up, and I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 going to stop. In some ways, this is even more organic than the tea party.鈥�

Yet for Caroline Keegan, the Greensboro event was about saving something she sees as positive: the Affordable Care Act.

At the Greensboro meeting, Ms. Keegan, a 20-something graduate student at the University of Georgia in Athens, for the first time in her life told strangers about a chronic medical condition that could ruin her financially should ACA be repealed. The speech, she says, was well-received by both the crowd and the aides to Georgia's two US senators and the area's US representative 鈥� all Republicans.

Afterward, she says, her hands wouldn鈥檛 stop shaking.

鈥淚 felt deeply thrown off balance, because this wasn鈥檛 just sort of a political issue that I was concerned about, this was a feeling of intense vulnerability and fear for my own body, and it really surprised me,鈥� says Keegan.

So when a spokesperson for Sen. David Perdue 鈥� one of the legislators holding the event 鈥� called it a 鈥渕anufactured protest,鈥� Keegan felt like she had been slapped in the face.

To be sure, some crowds have been unruly and disruptive. And attendees say there have been partisan anti-Trump elements. The constituent day in Georgia was not even a town hall but a routine meeting to help elderly citizens navigate Social Security and Veterans Administration benefits.

鈥淚nitially, there was some concern amongst the sheriffs that there was going to be civil disobedience and some rowdy protesting,鈥� Keegan says. 鈥淎t the same time, the sheriff was very hospitable and welcoming, and the mood was really energetic. It was amazing.鈥�

While Republicans have cited personal safety as a reason to cancel such gatherings, crowds so far have applauded, cheered, even defended police officers.

Representative Chaffetz pointed to an incident where two men wearing bandannas and handguns (which are legal to carry in Utah) urged the crowd to 鈥渞ush the police.鈥� But local police said the crowd instead stepped in to defend the police by forming a barrier.

鈥淭he crowd was great with us,鈥� police Lt. Dan Bartlett told CNN.

On top ... but vulnerable

Republicans鈥� conundrum is how to play for time, says Sarah Binder, a political scientist at George Washington University.

鈥淢y guess is accusing the protesters of being paid rabble-rousers helps these lawmakers justify fewer or no town halls and buys them time to figure out what to do,鈥� she says.

For all the their power in holding the White House and both houses of Congress, Republicans are in a sensitive situation. The same was true of the Democrats in 2009, after all. On average, 37 seats shift when there鈥檚 a president with less than 50 percent approval rating, according to Professor Abramowitz. So far, Trump is hovering around 40 percent.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if the Republicans realize how vulnerable they really are,鈥� Abramowitz says.

For his part, Denham says his concerns are hardly partisan, but really just 鈥渒itchen table issues.鈥� He wants to know what鈥檚 going to happen with Obamacare. And he鈥檚 worried that the tone in Washington is hurting women. One of his daughters recently said, 鈥淚 can鈥檛 be an astronaut because I鈥檓 a girl.鈥�

So far, the technology worker from suburban Peachtree Corners says the response from elected representatives to his questions 鈥渉as been all adversarial.鈥�

But Americans are demanding more. They 鈥渁re getting off their couches and coming out,鈥� says Denham.

And for lawmakers concerned about their safety, he offers a solution.

鈥淒on鈥檛 worry, my twin 10-year-old daughters will protect you.鈥�

Staff writer Francine Kiefer contributed to聽this report from聽奥补蝉丑颈苍驳迟辞苍.听