Ted Lieu and Dianne Feinstein Laura Gross

I attended both Dianne Feinstein and Ted Lieu's Town Halls

yesterday. I was fascinated by the differences and similarities of
both.

SIMILARITIES: Both Senator Feinstein and Congressman Lieu are

incredibly intelligent, dedicated, committed Democrats who clearly
oppose Trump. They both explained repeatedly that while they are
committed to liberal, Democratic ideals, the Republicans HAVE THE
MAJORITY OF THE VOTES in both The House and The
Senate. They can fight, they can work, but they can't push through
everything they want, because they don't have the votes. Many
people in both audiences (more in Feinstein's, though) were so angry
that they were yelling.

Both Feinstein and Lieu said that what we, as citizens, do is

extremely important. Attend rallies and marches, write to them and
Trump, write letters to the editor, support organizations that are
working to fight the Trump agenda (such a long list, but I'll mention a
few: ACLU, Planned Parenthood, MoveOn.org, People for the
American Way), support the free press by subscribing to a
newspaper(s) like the New York Times, The Washington Post, The
LA Times, etc.

DIFFERENCES: Senator Feinstein is a seasoned, experienced

politician who has spent decades in politics, and she has found
compromise and crossing the aisle to be one effective way to
implement policy. She is not for Single Payer Health Care (Lieu is),
but she explained her position coherently. She wants to see Assad
ousted, and agreed with Trump's bombing of the Syrian airfield (Lieu
did not). She is one strong, tough lady, and I was incredibly
impressed by her aplomb even when certain audience members were
haranguing her. At one point, she told someone who kept
interrupting her with his litany of issues, "I'm going to take the next
Steve Knight Marcy Rothenberg

We live in the small corner of Porter Ranch thats been

gerrymandered into Steve Knights 25th Congressional District, so
were represented by a Republican who has voted with Trump
100% of the time. While I was extremely frustrated by my
representatives (term used loosely) obvious efforts to duck
questions he doesnt want to answer at the Town Hall, I recognized
the value in getting him in front of a crowd thats not 100% with him. It
forces him to either duck uncomfortable questions and to utter
statements that we can cite later or to acknowledge that hes not
with a majority of his constituents. It also forces him to hear from us
in person he cant pretend we dont exist.

Attending Town Halls reminds our representatives that they are

supposed to work for US, not for their party, not for the president, and
not for their special-interest donors.

Kamala Harris Peter Rothenberg

The Holman United Methodist Church in Los Angeles was packed to

standing-room-only for Sen. Kamala Harris, welcoming her home on
Friday, April 21. In a Q&A that lasted almost two hours, Sen. Harris
shared her own feelings about how hard it is to hear the Trump
administrations plans and policies. Then she said, We dont have
the House, we dont have the Senate, and we dont have the White
House. But we have the power--because we have the people. Sen.
Harris said she asked Homeland Secretary Gen. Kelly not to use the
information provided by Dreamers to find them and deport them; he
told her he couldnt promise that. She also talked about pushing back
against Scott Pruitt at the EPA, Trumps warmongering with N. Korea,
and the failed attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare. How did we
stop that? You stopped it. She asked people to not give into despair,
but to stay involved and fight back. Every phone call, email, letter,
town hall and march are making a difference. Make your voices be
heard. We have to keep fighting! The town hall ended the same way
it startedwith a heartfelt standing ovation for Sen. Harris.

Brad Sherman Evelyne Elbaum

Brad Sherman came across as intelligent, knowledgeable, well

spoken. He was faced with a mostly friendly audience except for a
few people. One was a woman who stood up and would not sit down
for a long time. She was very crude in both her remarks and hand
gestures. The other was a man wearing a red trump cap. He was
loud and annoying and tried to interrupt Mr. Sherman's remarks.
Eventually they both settled down.
Mr. Sherman handled their interruptions well and in a calm manner.
An intelligent and productive comment came from a woman who
expressed appreciation for Brad Sherman's efforts; however, asked
him to be more vocal in the future in his expression of opposition of
the Trump agenda.