Pissed off Tennesseans skewer Rep. Diane Black over ACA repeal at Town Hall

[Tanuki]

There are some excellent very brief clips throughout the link below...I encourage you to click on them to get a feel for how those in the meeting and those outside who could not get in were feeling earlier tonight.

https://mobile.twitter.com/mj_lee

[Cha]

1. Surprise! ACA/aka/Obamacare isn't as unpopular

as fascist pimps would like.

Mahalo, Tanuki

[Docreed2003]

6. And this is in a state that refused federal funding Cha!!

People are waking up...all across this country. (FYI I'm biased because this is my rep and my district...and I applaud anyone who stands against Diane Black)

[Cha]

7. Wow.. refused Fed Funding when they had the chance.. now

that the fake swamp drainer is in charge, no chance in hell they'll get help.

There does seem to be a mass awakening across the country since trump started shooting off his mouth in the bully pulpit.

It's surreal.. I'm so ecstatic like the rest of us.. I bet you're liking the push back on diane black!

[Docreed2003]

8. Indeed I am...

I truly believe that if the right Dem who has ties to this area could take her on, they could turn that seat blue. Black's district consists of the rural and suburban counties surrounding Nashville and extremely rural counties east of Nashville. It was held for 26 years by one Dem and prior to that held by Al Gore. The suburbs are becoming increasingly blue and a politician who could speak to rural concerns as well as suburban voters here could push Black out.

[Cha]

9. Wow.. that's really good to hear.. and Al Gore's old seat.

Tennessee is a beautiful state. thanks Docreed~

[Hortensis]

15. Good luck on that, Docreed2003.

[gratuitous]

32. Go for it

I posted here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10028627324

I think this could be a really good tactic to use to spread the word about Republican chickenshits in their home districts. Have a few of these town halls over the next several months (be sure to invite Rep. Black to participate, and make sure the local media are notified as well), and see if some talent doesn't emerge. Getting people together is a good way to build community, energize activists, and maybe tip someone over from considering running for office to actually running for office.

[gratuitous]

2. Have folks been paying attention?

The Republicans have threatened for years to end the Affordable Care Act. Why didn't any of these people believe their elected officials when they said that and voted again and again (repeat about 60 times) to take away their subsidies and their health insurance, and go back to the bad old days of denials for pre-existing conditions and lifetime caps on coverage?

I'm glad they're paying attention at long last, but they'd better be ready to fight and fight goddam hard for the next two years. And then turn these heartless motherfuckers out of office.

[ProfessorGAC]

17. Simplest Explanation

Studies have shown that too many people don't know the ACA that helped them and Obamacare which they loathe (you because he's unwhite) is the same thing.

Digging to the next layer, the actual root cause is they're dumb.

[gratuitous]

23. I've seen stories about that

Gotta give the Republicans credit: They bad-mouthed "Obamacare" so long and so consistently that their partisans didn't have the foggiest notion what the Affordable Care Act did or how it affected their lives. Republicans also monkey-wrenched as much of the ACA as they could (e.g. making the Medicare expansion portion optional instead of mandatory; discovering a hitherto unknown civil right for corporations to have religious beliefs that superseded that of individual citizens), and then blamed the Democrats for all the flaws they introduced. You're still more likely to hear someone parrot "you can keep your doctor" than you are to hear anything about how the Republicans sabotaged the Act so that didn't happen.

But now that the ugly features are becoming apparent, Democrats should be all over these complaints, endorsing them and explaining how each and every one of these problems has its roots in Republican fuckery. If people are going to be mad about the shortcomings of the ACA (and they should be), let's make sure they're mad at the right party.

[IamFortunesFool]

3. Great to see my fellow Tennesseans getting involved!

It is hard living in an unapologetic red state... Seeing this kind of civic interest and involvement is incredibly heartening. Give em' hell!

[Docreed2003]

4. Oh how I LOATHE Dianne Black...

She is currently my rep. Her house is less than ten mins from where I live and she has built a castle on the lake here, paid for by lobbyists and special interests. She is not from this area and she has capitalized on the surge of RW evangelicals here to secure her seat, which used to be held by Bart Gordon, a reasonable man and a Democrat. I often dream of running against Black for this seat. I was born here and I know these people in this district. I moved back here to be closer to family and my practice is here caring for these same constituents. I sweated my ass off cutting tobacco here as a kid. My families roots are here in this area and my Roosevelt loving grandparents damn sure would have opposed a carpetbagger like Black. My fear would be they would try to tear me down by talking about a divorce from over ten years ago and make any race a fight on moral issues. Perhaps I'm a coward for not throwing my hat into the ring, but I just don't feel my family is in a position here to put them through a campaign for Congress.

All of that said, this district could be ripe for the taking with the right democrat taking on Black.

I applaud these folks who came out and voiced their concerns about the ACA, even in a state that has refused to acccept federal funding.

[Tanuki]

18. Run, Doc, run! Don't worry about the divorce....you couldn't

possibly have any more skeletons rattling around in your closet than Scott DesJarlais does! I live in Jim Cooper's district but would do anything I could to help you!

[Docreed2003]

19. Thanks Tanuki!!

No, no skeletons like Desjarlais! That dude is only is only in office because of the R after his name. He's a dispicable human being.

[Blue_true]

21. If you treated your former SO fairly during the divorce

And have a good working relationship with that person, don't worry about the divorce - just be prepared to strike back immediately if attacked. You may want to hire a private eye to collect dirt on Black, don't be afraid to use it because she wouldn't hesitate to attack you, paint her as an opportunistic carpetbagger and pull no punches. We need local people that know local issues running on our side.

[Docreed2003]

22. Excellent advice...

And thankfully the ex and I have a very amicable relationship. Man, you guys are making me pumped to start making some calls!

[Tanuki]

29. Diane Black is floating the possibility of running for governor

(maybe she'd like to spend more time kicking back at her lakeside palace), so her seat may be open. Go for it!

http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2017/02/09/diane-black-weighing-run-governor-meets-state-gop-leaders/97719424/

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

24. More than one elected official has been divorced.

You just make a fairly neutral statement about why you are divorced: We realized we had grown apart, or Marriage is not something I was very good at, or even, I wasn't about to stay in an abusive relationship.

Something that simply touches on why you are divorced without going into any sordid details. It's not as though you are the only divorced person in your district. It's the "pro-family values" hypocrites who commit adultery at very high rates, and divorce in numbers somewhat higher than those of the rest of us, especially including the godless atheists.

I understand why you might be very unwilling to run for office. So try to find a Dem who will run against Dianne Black, and start the entire fund-raising and start building a campaign structure within the next few months. It can't wait until the beginning of next year.

[AConcernedCitizen61]

33. Now that Diane Black has announced her Candidacy for the upcoming Gubernatorial run

(To Docreed2003)..I would love to discuss with you,at length,everything you know about Diane Black,"The Esteemed Candidate from West TN".Joined DU just to see what facts I can find on Diane Black,and taking into account your abject loathing of her,you seem like a perfect place to start,LOL...Looking forward to corresponding with you,perhaps at great length ??

[Docreed2003]

34. First of all..

Black's district is in Middle TN not West TN. Secondly, I think my post speaks for itself, not much more details to provide than that, honestly. Plus, I'm sure you can understand, especially in light of recent hacks here at DU, that I would be hesitant to discuss any further details, especially with someone who says that joined specifically because of wanting information on Black. If dirt is what you're looking for, I don't have that and my personal feelings towards her are purely political. I think she's as fake as Donald Trump and her motivations are driven by personal gain, not with the interests of the district. Last cycle, she sent out mailers that portrayed herself as the champion of the 2nd amendment with scare tactics meant to engender herself to the local voters. She had a campaign commercial that suggested she was truly "down to earth" because she once had to change her own oil. It was filmed in front of a typical ranch house, implying that was where she lived....Google her mansion and get back to me on how relatable she really is.

[gopiscrap]

35. welcome to DU

[Wounded Bear]

5. Great to see this shit in Red states/districts...

I think we have a couple of districts here in Washington that can be flipped.

[gopiscrap]

11. I was thinking perhaps Reichart's and the one in Jaimie Herrera is in

[chwaliszewski]

13. That would be my district.

Jaime Herrera-Beutler is in the 3rd district of WA. This district (Vancouver, WA) is about 60/40 republican, when you count the surrounding areas, and went pretty hard for her in the primaries with state rep Jim Moeller(D) winning a distant 2nd. She then went on to clobber him in the general and won 61/38. There's a lot of gun clingers here and would be a tough seat to win.

[crazycatlady]

30. I want to see that district contested

I worked for a state senate race in Vancouver last year (LOVED the area). Unfortunately Trump had coattails there and we couldn't pick off the seat.

However, I see the area as a great opportunity for Democrats.

(I was with an IE campaign, so I wasn't legally allowed to talk to the Democratic Party there).

[Berlin Vet]

31. 3rd District

Democrats David McDevitt has started his campaign for the 3rd District (he lost primary Jim Moeller) and a fellow named Peter Harrison has also wants to run. There is also a woman vet who was a Bernie supporter (didn't catch her name). Jaime can raise a lot of money so the only way to beat her is with getting out the vote and hopefully some of Jaime's supporters will come to their senses. There is a Youtube video of Jaime's town hall (17 Jan) and she got a lot of heat about repealing ACA. I'm guessing that will be the last town hall she holds and will go back to her intimate "coffees".

[gopiscrap]

10. where in the fuck have they been

did they not listen to what the repukes and that yellow face shit gibbon of leader were saying all alomng. Fuck 'em you voted for the guy, now go live in fear of a catastrophic health event...

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

12. A show of hands: How many of these people

voted for Obama, voted for this Representative, voted for other Republicans over the years?

Not a single one of them should be complaining because THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT THEY VOTED FOR! I am so fucking tired of the sudden outrage over the proposed repeal of Obamacare, as if the Republicans haven't held what is it? 30 votes? More? in the past six or seven years to repeal the ACA. Do they live under a rock?

[Hortensis]

14. Over 50 "repeals." How about that poll (yet another one)

that found 35% of Americans didn't know the ACA and Obamacare were the same thing? Guess these people thought they'd get to have their cake and spit at Democrats too.

[Tanuki]

16. How would you presume to know, much less condemn,

how the individuals in the linked video clips voted? As far as you know, they may be solid, committed Democrats who happen to live in a red district taking an opportunity to speak truth to power. I don't think the average Diane Black voter has flipped in the past two and a half weeks, but then what do I know? I only live in the next county over from her district. And I would be pretty damned disgusted if someone accused me of having voted for a Republican, ever, just because the only thing they know about me is where I happen to reside.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

25. I realize I cannot know exactly how any of them voted.

But given that she was re-elected by 71% of the voters in her district back in November re-elected her, and that bright red Tennessee cast 61% of its votes for Trump, I think it's extremely fair to consider that many of those in that room both voted for her and voted for Trump. I can't believe that only those who didn't vote for her, didn't vote for Trump, showed up.

Over and over again we read and hear of some voter who says, "I voted for Trump but I didn't seriously think he'd take away my health care?" But that is exactly what they voted for. It's a shame the rest of us have to live with the consequences of their ignorant vote.

[Tanuki]

27. You are making a lot of unwarranted assumptions about the people who were grilling Diane Black.

http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2017/02/09/gop-lawmakers-face-defenders-obamacare/97690952/

..."Prior to the GOP event, about 75 to 100 people staged a rally organized by the MTSU College Democrats in front of the Student Union. They carried many signs with multiple messages, including "Nurses are supposed to care 'Nurse Black'" and "Health care is a human right" and "No Wall No Ban" and "The only minority destroying America is the rich" and "Support Planned Parenthood Protect Reproductive Rights."
Some in the rally crowd were able to enter the Parliamentary Room for the GOP event without their signs. Others were stuck in the hallway and began to chant, "Let us in! Let us in!"

...........
When the event ended, Carlson complained that the GOP lawmakers dodged questions, offered platitudes and were "straight up lying" about young people not signing up for the Affordable Care Act.
"I do use Obamacare," said Carlson, a sophomore aerospace major from the Antioch community of Nashville."

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

28. I don't think I'm making unwarranted assumptions.

Assumptions, yes. Unwarranted, no. The percentage of the voters who voter for her and voted for Trump are knowable. And the likelihood that only those who didn't vote for her or for Trump are the only ones who showed up is vanishingly small. Again, many of the very same people who support health care as a right, still voted for Trump. So those signs are not and indication of who they voted for. It's just that now they have voters' remorse.

And for you to assume that all of those at the meeting voted Democrat is an equally unwarranted assumption. I'm simply saying (assuming) that many of them, in keeping with the percentages of the votes there, would have voted for Trump and for Black.

[underpants]

26. INDIVISIBLE

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=8625287