Oregon Public Broadcasting

Congressman Brian Baird has reversed course. The southwest Washington Democrat had begged off in-person town hall meetings to discuss health care.

He said "brown shirt tactics", as he put it, by opponents of health care reform could intimidate some of his constituents.

Now, Baird says he regrets those remarks and has scheduled five town hall meetings in the coming weeks. He'll join colleagues across the Northwest who've been holding town hall meetings this month.

Those gatherings have been both spirited and polite. We have two reports now from Oregon and Idaho. Correspondent Chris Lehman starts us off in McMinnville, Oregon.

Maybe Oregonians are just polite. Or maybe it was the fact that this town hall meeting was held in a police station.

Congressman David Wu speaks to the audience at a town hall in McMinnville, Oregon.

Either way, Congressman David Wu's gathering lacked many of the fireworks seen at other town hall meetings around the country. People who spoke out of turn were quickly shushed by others.

Wu is a six-term Democrat who represents northwest Oregon. His district includes parts of Portland, as well as more conservative communities such as McMinnville.

Some people stood in line for hours to get in, and many more were turned away when the room reached its capacity. Organizers drew numbers out of a hat to determine who got to ask a question.

All of the questions at the hour-long event were about the proposed overhaul of the nation's health care system. Many in the crowd expressed their opposition to more government control of health care, like 79-year-old Bill Powell.

Bill Powell: "We've heard some horror stories about what's going to happen to senior citizens as a result of this alleged medical reform, that we're going to be given numbers or we're cut off from medical care after we get too old. What can you tell us about that?"

David Wu: "There have been some very, very unfortunate allegations that have no basis in fact whatsoever. Medicare will stay in place roughly the way it is."

Wu's answers didn't please everyone in the crowd, and people on both sides of the issue held demonstrations outside the building long after the Congressman left.

I'm Chris Lehman in McMinnville, Oregon.

And I'm Doug Nadvornick in north Idaho.

When Democratic Congressman Walt Minnick spoke at a Rotary Club meeting in Post Falls recently, he got a tough question. But it wasn't related to health care.

Democratic U.S. Representative Walt Minnick talks health care with Rotary Club members in Post Falls, Idaho.

Unknown man: "You ran your campaign as a conservative. But one of the first votes that you cast back there was for Nancy Pelosi. I'd like you to speak about that just briefly."

Pelosi is not popular in Idaho. And neither is the prospect of a government health insurance plan to compete with private industry.

Minnick says he's against that too. Perhaps that why he's getting a polite reception in his district at a time when many congressional Democrats are catching flak.

He says there's a need to change America's health care system, but not at the price tag of the proposals now before Congress.

Walt Minnick: "Let's make it affordable. Let's pay for it. Let's not get the government into health care."

Some at this meeting, like Karen Cotton, agree about the need to make health insurance more available and more affordable. But, she says, it shouldn't be free.

Karen Cotton: "People do need to take a responsibility, whether it's paying for part of it. But health care, everybody should have health care."

That note about personal responsibility ran strong at this meeting. Jean Paul Dupin says the bills before Congress don't do enough to encourage people to take better care of themselves and manage their weight.

Jean Paul Dupin: "All the statistical data is there that obesity drives the majority of the heart conditions, medication issues, diabetes. And if we can get a handle on the obesity of America, that right there would be a huge component."

That may be a bigger challenge than Congress wants to tackle right now, which is okay with Walt Minnick. He says, given the country's current financial situation, a little health reform might be better than a lot of reform.