The tactics of health care opponents may discredit their message

After all the recent media coverage of angry crowds at town hall meetings who oppose health care reform, it’s a relief to come across a reassuring piece of journalism from a neutral source. Reuters reports that the entire ruckus will probably not make any difference in the broader debate on health issues.

The shouting captured media attention and overshadowed debate on the complex details of Obama’s top domestic priority, but the furor could limit the influence of the town hall meetings when lawmakers take up the issue again in September.
“A lot of this is the base of the two parties screaming at each other and I don’t know if it’s changing a lot of minds one way or the other,” Republican consultant Dan Schnur said.
“It just turns people off,” said Jim Kessler, vice president for policy at the moderate think tank Third Way. He said extreme elements on each side are battling and “for everyone else this is a revolting spectacle.”

The press coverage is an opportunity for rational folks to see just how uninformed and illogical the opponents truly are.

“This is about the systematic dismantling of this country,” a woman told Democratic Senator Arlen Specter on Tuesday at one of two raucous meetings in Pennsylvania, where shouting crowds said the United States was heading the way of Russia and “Maoist China.”
A man told Specter to “tell Obama to represent us as an American.” When Specter said the president was [an American], the crowd roared in disagreement.

Opposition comes from birthers and Palin supporters

Birthers are those who refuse to believe that President Obama was born in the US.

“Many of these people are birthers. The birthers are absolutely nuts,” Pennsylvania’s Democratic Governor Ed Rendell told MSNBC. “I have never seen ugliness and rage like this in the 32 years I’ve been in politics.”
Cal Jillson, a political analyst at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, said the most disruptive crowd members were often the people who rallied to Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin during the campaign.

Politicians in favor of reform are at a disadvantage at town hall meetings due to the current status of the legislation. Four of the five Congressional committees working on health care have passed different versions of the bill. The fifth committee is still at work.

“If you’re an Obama supporter, you don’t really know what you’re fighting for yet,” [Dan] Schnur said. “If you’re an opponent, you latch onto the single least attractive aspect of any of five different plans.”

Live action ads to counteract the opposition

Here’s a sample of the advertising designed to counteract the “myths” propagated by opponents. It’s from the AARP.

There’s so much live action here – which may be good because it keeps the audience watching – that I doubt the message gets heard. That may be OK too. Sometimes these things work better subliminally.
Here’s the voice over:

Special interest groups are trying to block progress on health care reform, derailing a debate with myths and scare tactics; desperately trying to stop you from discovering that reform won’t ration care. You and your doctor will always decide the best treatment for you. Tell Congress not to let myths get in the way of fixing what’s broken with health care. Learn the facts.