The public can attend the town hall meetings of U.S. Reps. Lou Barletta and Tom Marino and tell the congressmen what they think on the great issues of the day on one condition:
Don't record them.
Barletta has banned anyone who is not a media member from using video or audio recording devices at the meetings so attendees feel freer to speak, said Shawn Kelly, Barletta's spokesman.
Some constituents anonymously have called Barletta's office to express worry their town hall comments will be recorded and thrust onto the Internet, Kelly said.
"They should be able to go to these meetings without worrying about whether a video of them will (circulate) far and wide," Kelly said. He declined to provide the names of constituents who complained about non-media cameras.
Barletta's staff posted a sign warning against recording devices at a May 19 meeting with constituents in Berwick. The meeting was not a town hall.
Last week, Renita Fennick, Marino's press
secretary, would not allow a man who would not identify himself to enter the congressman's LaPlume Township town hall May 16 with a video camera. The man was allowed in without the camera.
"People can come in and speak. We're not preventing freedom of speech," she said. She declined to elaborate further on the ban.
"I don't really want to participate in the story," she said.
The bans appear to be reactions to the state Democratic Party sending someone to attend and record the town hall meetings of Barletta, Marino and other congressmen. Mark Nicastre, a spokesman for the state Democrats, acknowledged the tactic and said video clips are posted on its website.
"Lou Barletta and Tom Marino, understandably, do not want people to see their flimsy explanations for voting to end Medicare as we know it or their constituents' angry reaction to their votes in Washington," Nicastre said. "We believe it's important for the public to hear and see. If Lou Barletta and Tom Marino are afraid of being filmed explaining a bad vote, maybe they should rethink the way they vote."
Following politicians to record their public moves is a longstanding practice by all sides in political campaigns. Christopher Borick, Ph.D., a political science professor at Muhlenberg College, said he teaches use of the tactic in a class on conducting election campaigns.
Some congressmen have become infamous on YouTube and other Web sites in recent years for public missteps. In 2006, Virginia's former U.S. Sen. George Allen used the word "macaca" - a racial slur - to describe a campaign volunteer of Indian descent who was recording his appearances for his opponent. The moment is widely believed to have undermined his re-election bid.
Last year, Barletta's predecessor, Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski, relied more on telephone town hall meetings, arguing he wanted to avoid setting himself up "for nuts to hit me with a camera" after comments he made at other meetings spread on the Internet. Some of those comments, recorded by a Kanjorski critic, wound up in Barletta's campaign television commercials. During their campaign, Barletta sharply criticized Kanjorski for failing to meet constituents at public town halls, something he has done regularly as congressman.
Barletta's two most recent town hall meetings followed his vote in favor of a privatized version of Medicare proposed by House Budget Commitee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis. Polls show the proposal's key element - vouchers that allow senior citizens to shop for private health care instead of government-based Medicare - is highly unpopular among Americans.
Constituents angry at Barletta's vote let him know their displeasure, though Kelly downplayed the anger as largely the work of Democratic operatives.
Kelly insisted the ban is not meant to prevent Barletta from looking bad if he says something embarrassing or potentially damaging politically and it spreads on the Internet. He said legitimate news media will record the comments and publish or air them anyway.
"It's not a public meeting," Kelly said. "It's a meeting held to give the congressman an opportunity to meet with the public and we will set the ground rules ... I think this is something we are doing to help people out."
Nicastre said the party does not record the meetings to intimidate speakers.
"It allows more people to see what goes on there, the congressman's explanations of his votes and some of his reactions," he said. "The more people that are able to see this, I think it's better for the democratic process in general ... I think it's helpful to open up the debate and open up the conversation."
He pooh-poohed the idea that the cameras discourage anyone from speaking up and called it an excuse to avoid being recorded.
"I think if you look at some of the clips that we have posted so far, it doesn't seem like people are hesitant to comment," Nicastre said.
He acknowledged embarrassing clips of the congressman could turn up in campaign commercials.
"We have posted the clips on YouTube. If there's something notable, it's something we could consider using down the line," Nicastre said. "But again, it's helpful to have the representative's own words so he can be held accountable."
Borick said the ban and the Democrats' opposition to it are about controlling what gets on the Internet.
Barletta fears Democrats will edit recordings into "out of context" Internet clips that make him look bad. Opponents are unencumbered by standards of fairness required of mainstream newspaper and broadcast news reporters, Borick said. The clips could also be used to raise money to oppose Barletta.
"I don't know if the public is any more concerned about speaking at a public meeting if some guy has an iPhone up vs. an expensive camera from a TV station," Borick said. "I'm not sure that that's going to have a big effect on someone standing up and giving a statement at a town hall meeting. But I do know ... from a public relations campaign (standpoint), you don't want to have a lot of sound bites and comments and moments that might be taken out of context."
Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com