At her town hall, Betsy Markey presents a moving target

Like fellow representative Doug Lamborn, whose healthcare town hall was frenzy-free (because pretty much everyone agreed that ObamaCare is awful), Betsy Markey, who represents Colorado's 4th District, managed to keep her own get-together about reform from deteriorating into a remake of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. However, she had to work...

By Michael Roberts

August 19, 2009

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Like fellow representative Doug Lamborn, whose healthcare town hall was frenzy-free (because pretty much everyone agreed that ObamaCare is awful), Betsy Markey, who represents Colorado's 4th District, managed to keep her own get-together about reform from deteriorating into a remake of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. However, she had to work a little harder than Lamborn, who faced a crowd that would have joined voices in a rendition of "Kumbaya" if the song had been about the evils of government-sponsored insurance. Before the sessions got underway, she promoted "Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation," a list of decorum do's and don'ts beloved by George Washington. Then, as pointed out in the Fort Collins Coloradoan's article about the event, she broke the sessions into smaller groups, the better to prevent a mob mentality from building. Finally, she kept folks on either side of the ideological divide off-balance by simultaneously citing the need for meaningful reform and declaring that because the House version of the bill is so ungodly expensive, she would have voted against it in its current form.

This approach should prevent future Markey sessions (and she's got nine events scheduled during the August recess) from turning chaotic. But the fence-straddling she engaged in yesterday won't work in the long run. Eventually, she'll have to come down on one side or the other.

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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