On Monday, I attended a town hall event with Charles Lollar, the Republican challenger to Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. Here are videos of almost the entire Q&A portion of the event, in the order the questions were asked:



I will give him credit for answering the question directly, but you can imagine that the Hoyer campaign might jump this viewpoint as radical, too extreme for Maryland. The fact is, depending on the poll, Americans support the right to choose in cases of rape, incest, or the mother's health by anywhere from 65-80%. This is not a partisan issue, most people just believe it is not right to force a woman to give birth to her rapist's child. In a heavily Democratic state, Lollar will have to convince voters that he does not hold some of the same extreme views of the Republican party. This makes that argument a little harder.



Social Security is fully solvent through 2037. It is not perfect, but it has been and continues to be one of the more successful government programs (I think the highway system might have to take first prize). Social Security works.





No one is saying that one random person speaks on behalf of everyone. We are saying this "one person" operated TeaParty.org. We are saying this "one person" organized the Tea Party Express. Leaders do actually get to speak for the movement to some degree. And we have yet to see a single speaker at these events condem these signs.







This is a typical response on pre-existing conditions. We heard the same throughout the entire debate. The fact is, if you do not make it illegal, insurance companies will deny people insurance because they are sick. You know how we know this? It happened. All the time. We do not have to guess. It is a fact. And the President's bill changes that.

As for Mr. Lollar's comments that insurance companies should be able to turn down people who did something bad to get sick (like smoking). That becomes an increasingly difficult line to set. And the way he put it, gives insurance companies a loophole the size of Texas to jump through in order to deny care to anyone they might suspect of having gotten themselves sick. How do you prove that you did not do anything wrong to get cancer?

Overall, Charles Lollar is a decent conservative candidate. He took some tough questions at the town hall and answered them directly for the most part (as much as I may have disagreed with some of the answers). He is a good speaker, which should never be underestimated or under-appreciated, good speakers can move the world. 

There are two big obstacles he will face in this campaign: 1) Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. Here is another good speaker, with lots of funding, and strong popularity throughout the state. Here are some numbers to give you an idea (h/t to plf515 at Daily Kos)

2008 margin 74-24 over Collins Bailey 2006 margin 83-16 (over a Green party candidate) 2004 margin 69-29 Obama margin 65-34 Bush margin 2004 42-57 ...Assessment:  Safe.  Hoyer has over $1.5 million CHO, the others have little...

2) He holds some views that are more conservative from the state. That does not mean he cannot win over voters who disagree with him on some issues and not on others, but it is an uphill battle.

We have already posted several telling interviews from our filming at Glenn Beck's 828 Restoring Honor Rally, but we haven't yet posted our most emotional, interactive, and intense experiences.  Towards the end of our day downtown, we stopped to chat with some folks from the crowd- as we did throughout the day.  When we began our interview with Madonna from Indiana, we were in the exact center of a circular cement area that is the entrance way to the World War II Memorial.  Our conversation started with Madonna, the only person in her group of 5 or so who decided to stop and chat with us.  Quickly, however, not only did several of her friends decide to join our discussion, but several onlookers decided that they belonged in our conversation as well.  Before we knew it, we were encircled by 30 or so rally goers who decided to engage us (verbally) in an effort to try and convert us to Glen Beck's White Christian Civil Rights Utopia.  Below is the majority of the half hour experience in 6 parts and at the very bottom is all 30 minutes of our discussions unedited.

Check out Pam Spaulding's post at Pam's House Blend for more thoughts and discussion.

Hey folks! So, it's Sunday and I was up late working, so we are going to keep this brief. Yesterday we sent cameras to Glenn Beck's 828 rally and Al Sharpton's rally and march. We posted a handfull of videos from each. But first, a personal comment, if you don't mind. My parents and grandparents were civil rights activists (not to mention anti-war activists and labor organizers). On the same grass where we stood yesterday, my mother stood 47 years ago to watch Martin Luther King Jr. declare his dream for the world. I highly doubt anyone will remember yesterday the way my mother remembers 47 years ago.

We will begin with Beck's event (lots more videos below the fold):