Loughlin announces town hall meeting
01:00 AM EDT on Monday, September 21, 2009
State Rep. John J. Loughlin II has become Rhode Island’s
first congressional candidate to announce
plans to host a health-care “town hall” meeting.
The Tiverton Republican reported Friday that he would send a DVD recording
of his Sept. 30 public
forum –– featuring a handful of local medical professionals –– to his likely
opponent in the 2010
contest for Rhode Island’s First Congressional District seat, Rep. Patrick
J. Kennedy.
“We want to make sure he can hear from his constituents,” Loughlin said.
Kennedy, a Democrat, is the only member of Rhode Island’s
delegation who hasn’t hosted a
health-care town hall forum. He canceled tentative plans for a public meeting
last month after the
death of his father.
Kennedy hopes to host a telephone-based town hall in the
coming weeks, according to spokeswoman
Kerrie Bennett, who noted that Kennedy has held several closed-door meetings
with stakeholders
throughout the summer. This weekend, for example, Kennedy will discuss national
health-care
legislation during a private gathering with AARP officials and the state
nurses’ association.
Kennedy also has plans to attend a political fundraiser
in Alabama this week, which may include a
meeting with a local mayor and tour of economic-development sites, according
to his office.
Loughlin lashed out at Kennedy’s Alabama trip and recent
appearances on national TV programs such
as Larry King and the Today show to promote a memoir written by his father,
Edward Kennedy, the
late Massachusetts senator.
“I’m trying to be helpful. This is a means of trying to
answer questions my constituents have they’re
not getting answered by their congressman,” Loughlin said of his forum. “He
obviously doesn’t have
the time between book tours and fundraising in Alabama.”
Loughlin’s town hall is scheduled for Sept. 30 at 5:30
p.m. at Brantal’s Catering, Restaurant and Pub,
in Tiverton. Several medical professionals, including Edward J. Quinlan,
president of the Hospital
Association of Rhode Island, are scheduled to attend.
State Democratic Party Chairman Bill Lynch responded Friday
on Kennedy’s behalf to Loughlin’s
criticism.
“I’m disappointed that John Loughlin has so quickly decided
to take the low road. He’s not even a
formally declared candidate yet, and already has resorted to cheap potshots
that are as inaccurate as
they are desperate,” Lynch said in a statement.
(Loughlin has filed formal declaration paperwork with
the Federal Election Commission, although he
has yet to announce his candidacy publicly. “We’re raising money and we’re
doing all the things we
need to do to run a legitimate campaign,” Loughlin said Friday.)
Referring to Kennedy’s potential tour of Alabama industrial
sites this week, Loughlin suggested that
Kennedy’s efforts to promote job growth should be confined to Rhode Island,
which is suffering from
the second-highest unemployment rate in the nation.
Lynch shot back.
“It’s one thing to talk about job creation, it’s a whole
other thing to do the work that makes it happen,
and that’s what Congressman Kennedy is doing,” Lynch said, referring to an
amendment to a House
bill Kennedy introduced last week to help support local green jobs. “I would
respectfully suggest that
Patrick Kennedy accomplished more for his constituents last week than John
Loughlin has been able
to do in his five years at the State House.”