Congressman Rush Holt: On The Ropes

Earlier this month, I posted about the multiple Republicans that were looking to take on Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ) this fall in what has been for the past decade a safe, if gerrymandered, Democratic seat.

Seems like these would-be challengers have their ear to the ground - or are reading this blog. Congressman Holt did a "town hall" last night in upscale Marlboro, New Jersey, and barely escaped with his life:

....the crowd at Holt's "town hall" meeting was small — a little more than 120 attendees — but vocal. Holt, a Democrat from the state's 12th Congressional District, tried to talk education, open space, flight safety and care for seniors. But he was heckled and shouted down by attendees who wanted to talk about health care, job creation and the nation's spending.

At one point, the congressman threatened to take the meeting to another room and leave his haranguers to shout among themselves.

Some video here (the link may be better than the cube below):




And here's some eyewitness testimony from Right in Jersey:

After a short introduction by Marlboro's Democratic Mayor Jon Hornik, Holt began his ultra-boring speech. He kept reading from his folder, and people got irritated, start shouting at him, asking questions, trying to get him to justify his positions, but Holt was totally unphased. No emotion, no reaction, just like a radio show you can ignore. At one point, someone shouted that it's like a "breathing robocall", to which even the Mayor (who was very cool through the evening) couldn't help laughing...

And then, the Q&A started. Meaning, Hornik would pick a question, would "evaluate" it, pass it to Holt, he'd read it, and give a lecture. People were getting angrier and angrier because he was avoiding direct answers, would say lots of lies, and again, would refuse to clarify his answers or stay on point. There was a lot of shouting back and forth. And then it was Rebel Rhoda's turn. She's Canadian-born, so her question was related to Canadian healthcare. Besides saying that "Canadian healthcare is not good", Holt avoided a clear answer. Rhoda got up, went to him, grabbed his microphone, and Holt wrestled it back from her. Holt whined that there's not a civil climate for discussion, and people yelled that HE doesn't want a discussion. Mayhem erupted, Holt's goons came in....

More of the Q&A with our clueless Congressman:

Someone asked how does he feel about Scott Brown's victory. Holt was confused, then smiled and said:"I'm glad I live in New Jersey"
....Of course, people shouted "not for long" at him....

Holt repeatedly said that he's not worried about the way the Administration's spending is increasing deficits. He even said:"Sometimes, it's not bad to borrow." But then, a constituent questioned his votes in 2001-2002 against tax breaks and tax incentives. Holt's response was that it would've increased the deficit.
The Bush 3-400 billions deficit bad. Obama 2 trillion deficit good.

And finally, another memorable Rush Holt gem: "America is such a great and rich country because of Government spending!"

Just a bit out of step with his constituents, you think?

Enjoy your last 11 months, Rush....