Oregon Public Broadcasting

Southwest Washington Congressman Brian Baird faced down a crowd of several thousand constituents last night, who went to Ridgefield to air their thoughts on health care. April Baer reports.

All comers were given numbers as they entered,  up to the first thousand.

A moderator drew numbers at random, and invited lucky participants up to speak, with Baird waiting to respond.

Brian Baird: “I keep waiting for somebody to yell bingo.”

The crowd roared its distrust of the federal government, but also expressed displeasure with the present health care system. Many called for the government to get out of their lives altogether.

Brian Baird “I understand your concern. How many of you believe Medicare shouldn’t be run by the government. There’s a reason Medicare was created, because seniors were not having adequate health insurance and were suffering as a result."

Baird has four more such meetings scheduled, with the next one Wednesday night.