The following article by Matthew Chapman was posted on the AlterNet.org website August 28, 2018:
Rep. Erik Paulsen tried to play the people’s candidate at a debate. His constituents found it so absurd they started laughing.
Minnesota Congressman Erik Paulsen hasn’t held a town hall in 7 years.
In a debate with candidate @deanbphillips, Paulsen says he gets his good ideas by “being accessible” to constituents.
The crowd erupts in laughter.#ChangeIsComing. #EveryonesInvited. #MN03 pic.twitter.com/gecTtzLMKK
— Spencer Bounds (@Spencer4Texas) August 27, 2018
Congressman Erik Paulsen (R-MN) is a reliable vote for President Donald Trump’s agenda in a suburban Minneapolis district that voted for Hillary Clinton by nearly 10 points. He has backed Trump 98 percent of the time, according to FiveThirtyEight, including on the failed GOP plan to strip health insurance from sick people and on the disastrous package of tax cuts for corporations and billionaires.
It would be hard to find a congressman more out of touch with his district. One reason might be that Paulsen has not had a true town hall meeting with constituents in 7 years, instead choosing to hold “telephone town halls” where he can pre-screen questions. He held one supposedly public set of meetings in June, but they were only open to a tiny number of people. When asked why he does not hold town halls by Southwest News Media, he complained that “People turn them into a gotcha moment or a shouting moment.”
So it was something of a surprise to his constituents when, in a debate with Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party opponent Dean Phillips, Paulsen claimed he gets his best ideas by listening to the voters. In fact, attendees found it so ridiculous that they burst out laughing at him.