Town hall meeting is different than a rally

Published 2:03 pm Saturday, October 9, 2010

I am a veteran of the Korean War, grandfather and a proud American. The one thing I am not is a Tim Walz “campaign operative,” as I was called in a recent letter to the editor.

I attended the town hall meeting on Sept. 10 after reading about it in this paper. Several weeks earlier, I met Rep. Randy Demmer in Chatfield. I asked him for his plans on Social Security. He told me it just wasn’t that important to him. Since I feel very passionately about it, I was not satisfied with his answer. After reading contradicting quotes leading up to the Albert Lea town hall, I decided I needed a clear answer.

Town hall meetings are meant for people to come together to ask their elected officials questions. If it were advertised as a rally, I probably wouldn’t have attended. It was advertised as a town hall and open to the public. It is not rude to ask tough questions of those looking to serve us in Washington.

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Congressman Walz has been a fierce advocate for veterans and our wounded warriors coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan. After the Albert Lea town hall, I am more certain that we need to keep Tim Walz as our U.S. representative in the Congress.

Lyle Abrahamson

Rochester