Unplugged: Are Town Hall Protests "Manufactured"?

Posted by Michelle Levi


Democratic National Committee's press secretary Hari Sevugan said nationwide protests of democratic health care town hall events were "manufactured outrage " today on "Washington Unplugged."

Sevugan debated Max Pappas from Freedomworks.com on the show.

"We are very flattered at the idea that we could gin up this many people with this level of excitement. But you can't gin that up," Pappas said. "This only happens when people are really concerned."

Sevugan acknowledged that there is real concern over health care, "but what is not helping is sort of the venomous, angry yelling and screaming that we are seeing at these town halls."

"I think a lot of the events that you are seeing here are manufactured outrage," Sevugan said.

"Perception is reality," Politico's Josh Kraushaar explained in an earlier segment. "When you see images of angry and concerned constituents and protests…that is a bad image for the administration to be seeing."

Kraushaar said that regions where these protests have occurred since the weekend are actually very Democratic and polls have indicated that people there support the president's health care plan.

"The notion that there is a grassroots activism in those areas is somewhat unlikely. It suggests that you are seeing the pressure of outside groups," he said.

He also noted that at the same time, response from local Democrats is unexpectedly low.