National Issues Hit Hyper-Local Conservative Republican Mesa

Last week two conservative Mesa politicos holding national elected office in Washington D.C. -  one Jeff Flake a Senator and the other Andy Biggs a Congressman [coincidentally both Mormons] - relented to rising public pressure to stage Town Hall meetings with their constituents here in Mesa after trying to stay out-of-the-spotlight to avoid any possible public heat with Tele-Town Halls produced in a studio.

Take the heat they did in-person and face-to-face. It was all good to keep these two guys honest, open, transparent and accountable to the public - that's the way democracy works.
Likewise, it was a run for more than a week of high-interest and high-ratings for both local and national media for two events here in Mesa, the most conservative city in America where the public is usually dis-engaged from government.

Times are changing, or are they?
Trump was here during the presidential election campaign, staging an event in a private hangar at Gateway Airport. Bernie Sanders, Senator from Vermont, will be here this Friday, April 21st in the outdoor arena of the Mesa Amphitheater.

One might ask why the City of Mesa is the chosen spot-to-be for both ends of the political spectrum. Whatever the reason, it's a refreshing opportunity for the exercise of democracy to see how it works when the public gets engaged and active - that's good. Hallelujah

Readers of this blog, who haven't yet tuned into news made in Mesa, might want to take a look at a good reporting published on Friday, April 14, 2017 in Common Dreams

GOP Lawmakers Battered With Boos and Jeers in Face-Offs With Constituents

Town hall events an avenue for voters to decry attack on healthcare coverage

by Andrea Germanos, staff writer 

While some lawmakers are avoiding town halls altogether, or holding "sham" events, the Republicans who are facing their constituents during April's congressional recess are taking a beating on a range of issues, notably their support for the failed GOP healthcare bill.
Take Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, who held an event in his hometown at the Mesa Convention Center Thursday (and posted ground rules for the forum). "While several topics were discussed at the town hall, no issue was more prominent than that of healthcare," the Mesa Independent writes. 

The Arizona Republic describes it as "a brutal face-to-face confrontation" where the crowd began shouting "healthcare for all" before Flake even hit the podium.
Flake, for his part, declared his support for "our free-market system of healthcare." The Associated Press adds: "On several occasions, Flake's answers were drowned out by boos."  In contrast, a woman who said, "In Germany we have had a universal healthcare system... since 1871" elicited cheers.
A day earlier in Mesa, it was GOP Rep. (and Freedom Caucus member) Andy Biggs who faced angry constituents. His comments expressing doubt on established climate science drew boos. Yet he compared himself to Albert Eisenstein, saying the Nobel laureate was also "shouted down." At the end of the event, chants of "coward" were directed at Biggs.