how to keep TEA baggers from crashing your town hall meetings

Jim Matheson, one of the handful of Democrats who voted against health care reform has the solution to the problem of hecklers at Congressional Democrats' town hall meetings.

At least Matheson won't have any organized state GOP opposition on the matter, says Republican Party state chairman Dave Hansen.

Across the nation, some local Republican Party leaders are organizing supporters to attend Democratic incumbents' town hall meetings during the August congressional break to voice opposition to the majority party's health-care reforms.

Hansen says the Utah GOP is staying out for now because "Utahns are pretty ginned up" in opposition to parts of national Democrats' plans.

"They will be going to town hall meetings anyway."

...

But here's the kicker: Matheson, Utah's only congressional Democrat, won't be holding any town hall meetings. He gave them up a year or so ago and now only uses high-tech telephone conference call meetings. And he only does those when he's back in Washington, D.C., while Congress is in session

Way to do your research!

And one more trouble for the state Republican party in getting anti-reform folks to show up:

It's also because the state GOP Web site is down, and GOP leaders so can't communicate with lots of people.

Here's where I laugh, say something about Twitter, and point out that local ISP XMission's owner/founder, Pete Ashdown, is a Democrat. Maybe Hansen should give Ashdown a call so he can unclog the intertubes.

Matheson is being "targeted" by the national Republican party, but the local guys didn't get the memo:

"It is a light (advertising) buy on a few local stations," said Hansen, who heard the first ad Tuesday morning.

I am sure Jim is shaking in his boots while all of the big guns are busy running for the open Governor's race and challenging Bennett to a game of who can out conservative the other.

Matheson is seen by all sides of the health care reform debate as an important vote on the House floor apparently:

The liberal group MoveOn.org has started running some pro-Obama health-care ads in Utah, as well, representing the opposing view.

Heyrend said one national group, Conservatives For Patients' Rights, is running a cable TV ad against Matheson.

Another national group, Tea Party Patriots, has started e-mail campaigns against Democrats nationally, including giving out dates, locations and times of town hall meetings along with talking points, she said. And a third group, FreedomWorks, is e-mailing out talking points and scripts to challenge Democratic congressmen and Obama at their public meetings, said Heyrend.