U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, R-Fla., who was a just another chairman of a major Florida law firm last summer when health care town halls were all the rage, looks to get into the fun Monday when he holds his own in Fort Lauderdale. The event starts at 2:30 p.m. at the Beach Community Center, 3351 NE 33rd Ave.

LeMieux, who Republican state lawmakers hope will bring home a re-up of about $1.2 billion in extra Medicaid money for Florida’s budget hole, has been opposed to President Obama’s suggestions for reducing costs and increasing access to health insurance coverage. From a press release this week:

“This proposal still seeks to cut half a trillion dollars from Medicare. That’s a direct cut in health care benefits for seniors” LeMieux said. ”The proposal fails to achieve its main goal which is to lower the cost of health care for Americans.  It takes money from programs, like Medicare, and seeks to create new federal programs. It is clear that the American people do not support this bill.”

More related Post on Politics posts:

• Crist gets 27 seconds with Obama
• Scribbles waiting for President Obama in Tampa

Read related Palm Beach Post article, Obama trip to Florida expected to bring $1 billion or more for high-speed rail

President Obama and Vice President Biden will hold a townhall meeting Thursday in Tampa, the White House announced today. The event will happen the day after the State of the Union speech.

The event will be at 12:30p.m. at the University of Tampa Bob Martinez Sports Center. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis on Wednesday 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at the sports center.

Call it the Klein-Craft Axiom: In Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast, Democratic enthusiasm for a government-run public health insurance plan to compete with private insurers is inversely proportional to the percentage of Republicans in one’s congressional district.

Liberal U.S. Reps. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, and Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, are vocal cheerleaders for the “public option” that is a centerpiece of the health care overhaul pushed by House Democratic leaders.

Wexler and Hastings represent slam-dunk Democratic districts.

But in nearby Palm Beach-Broward District 22, which has slightly more Republican voters than Dems, U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, approached the topic cautiously in a “telephone town hall” with constituents last week.

During the teleconference, Klein sounded as if he’s leaning toward the public option and rejected the argument that putting the federal government in the market would drive out private insurers.

But he stopped short of embracing it.

“I’m still looking at it. I haven’t committed to it yet,” Klein said of the public option. And as for the entire 10-year, $1 trillion House plan, Klein said he has problems with the price tag and described himself as “not quite there yet on saying I’m supporting the bill.”

Striking a similarly cautious tone is Democrat Chris Craft, the St. Lucie County commissioner drafted by national Dems to try to unseat freshman U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, in Republican-leaning congressional District 16.

The public option, says Craft, “is an option that’s on the table. I’m not 100 percent sold on it.”

* * *

Marcia Andrews, a former teacher and principal and school district administrator, is considering a run for the school board seat of veteran incumbent Sandra Richmond.

School board seats are nonpartisan. But here’s what makes Andrews’ potential bid interesting: she’s a member of the Palm Beach County Democratic Party’s executive board. And Richmond, elected six times since 1988, is one of the county’s longest-serving Democratic elected officials.

Party leaders traditionally discourage challenges of incumbents from within the party. County Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel says he’s not backing Andrews, but hasn’t discouraged her, either, because “I don’t know if Sandi’s running again.”

Richmond says she’ll “probably” seek reelection next year.

* * *

Cedrick Thomas, who lost to Mack Bernard in last week’s special state House election, has to give up his Riviera Beach council seat Sept. 22 because he ran for the House.

But he doesn’t rule out seeking reappointment by the council.

Thomas is also weighing a 2010 challenge of Bernard or taking on County Commissioner Priscilla Taylor, who was a key Bernard backer.

Final figures are in from the “telephone town hall” on health care that U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, hosted Wednesday night.

The 70-minute event drew 6,350 callers and cost $12,964. That’s $2.04 per participant.

The expenditure comes out of the $1.5 million office budget Klein gets as a member of Congress for staff salaries, travel and constituent-service costs.

U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, will appear with a pair of Republican congressional candidates from other districts at a health care forum next week organized by the Palm Beach County GOP.

Hastings contacted county GOP Chairman Sid Dinerstein after seeing a Dinerstein quote accusing Democrats of ducking public meetings with constituents on health care. Hastings is scheduled to appear with Republican Allen West, who challenged Democratic U.S. Rep. Ron Klein of Boca Raton last year and is gearing for a 2010 rematch, and Ed Lynch, who challenged Democratic U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler of Boca Raton last year and is planning on another challenge next year.

Dinerstein said he’s trying to line up another supporter of Democratic health care reform proposals to join Hastings on the panel.

The event is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 3, at 1 p.m. at the county commission chambers in the Governmental Center in West Palm Beach. Seating is limited and those wishing to attend should call the county GOP headquarters at 561-686-1616 to reserve a spot.

The event carries almost zero political risk for Hastings. He represents a district that’s more than 4-to-1 Democratic and he was reelected with 82.2 percent of the vote last year.

During his “telephone town hall” meeting on health insurance reform Wednesday night, U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, fielded questions on abortion, illegal immigrants, whether there should be a government-run “public option” and whether the proposed overhaul would constitute a drift toward Marxism or socialism.

Klein’s office said about 6,460 people listened in. Seventeen people asked questions during the 70-minute teleconference.

Click here to read an article on the event.

More detailed excerpts are available after the jump….

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U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, told a “telephone town hall” meeting tonight that he likes some aspects of Democratic health care reform proposals, but has concerns about costs and other areas that he called “not quite ready for prime time yet.”

“I’m not quite there yet on saying I’m supporting the bill,” Klein said early in the 70-minute teleconference. Klein’s office said about 6,460 callers participated.

Klein, who represents a Palm Beach-Broward district with slightly more Republicans than Democrats, said he hasn’t taken a position yet on a government-run “public option” for health insurance that is a key issue for many Democrats.

“I’m still looking at it. I haven’t committed to it,” Klein said when a caller asked for his position on the public option. Later, he told another caller he would not support a public option that relied on taxpayer subsidy.

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Don’t bother making signs, hiring a high school marching band or bringing a video camera in hopes of creating a YouTube sensation. Tonight’s town hall meeting on health care hosted by U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, is a telephone-only affair.

Those who wish to participate must call Klein’s office toll-free at 1-866-713-7303 by noon today to register. Otherwise, those who live in Klein’s Palm Beach-Broward congressional district can hope they have one of the 50,000 or more phone numbers that receives an automated call around 7:45 p.m. tonight inviting them to join in the teleconference.

Klein’s foes have accused him of being afraid to face his constituents on an issue that has sparked some heated exchanges as well as some viral video in other congressional districts this summer. But Klein, who drew about 75 people to a town hall meeting on health care in June, says the teleconference method is a more effective way to reach thousands of constituents. He’s pledging an “open dialogue” and no ducking of tough questions.

Don’t expect any YouTubed confrontations when U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, hosts a town hall meeting later this month to discuss the 1,018-page House Democratic health care bill.

Klein is planning a “telephone town hall” that he says will reach far more constituents than an in-the-flesh event.

Republican challenger Allen West says Klein’s a chicken.

“The unwillingness to stand in front of your constituents can only be called cowardice,” said West.

Klein dismissed West’s claim. He said the teleconference has been planned for weeks and was not a reaction to the recent transformation of town hall events from soporific C-SPAN affairs to shout-fests that go viral on the Internet.

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Here’s one of many video clips available on the Internet from Thursday night’s shout-and-shovefest on health care in Tampa, which was originally billed as a town hall meeting hosted by U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa….

And here’s an account of the evening from the estimable Adam Smith of The St. Pete Times.

In Palm Beach County, U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, has scheduled a town hall meeting on health care for Aug. 20 at 1 p.m. at the South County Civic Center west of Delray Beach.

U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, is planning a “telephone town hall” later this month, but hasn’t set a date. (Here’s an account of a Wednesday health care dustup between protesters and Klein’s staff.)

U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, has no town hall meetings scheduled. Plans for U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, were not immediately available.

Just yesterday, a Broward County community forum with U.S. Rep. Ron Klein’s staff turned into a raucous confrontation somewhat reminiscent of the 1913 premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. And tonight, by all accounts, it happened again — this time in Tampa.

According to The Tampa Tribune:

What was supposed to be a town hall forum on President Barack Obama’s health care reform plan this evening turned instead into a shouting match, complete with shoving and scuffles.

The forum featured Tampa legislators U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor and state Rep. Betty Reed and was scheduled to start at 6 p.m. It ended about 7:15 p.m. with Castor only able to say a few words, most of which were inaudible because of the shouting from protestors.

… There were at least two scuffles between protestors trying to enter and organizers manning the doors. One of those involved in a scuffle, Randy Arthur, of Oldsmar said he was injured by those manning the doors and said he would file a police report.

He and his wife, Kathy, were outside the meeting room when organizers tried to close the doors. Randy Arthur and others tried to stop them “and he didn’t give up,” Kathy Arthur said.

Randy Arthur, who owns an air conditioning service company, later talked to police officers, his knit shirt ripped and a few scratches visible on his chest. “They slammed him into the wall,” Kathy Arthur said.

Meanwhile, a Web site used by one group of Obama critics, the Tampa 9-12 Project, has messages posted by folks who said they witnessed the mayhem:

“Freedom loving patriots celebrated liberty by knocking down a disabled woman and starting a fist fight with someone. I feel sorry for the people who went there to learn, whether it was to support or criticize. Too bad they weren’t allowed to speak.”

It was supposed to be a routine public meeting by the staff of U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton.

By the end, The Miami Herald reports, about 100 protesters besieged Klein’s staff at a north Broward County library on Wednesday, yelling in opposition to Democrats’ health-care reform proposals and even questioing whether President Obama is really a U.S. citizen. (more…)

Gov. Charlie Crist had his third town hall of the year on Tuesday. About 100 people showed up from the Pensacola area and 16 asked questions over about an hour.

At least three of the questioners (one who asked why state officials didn’t seriously consider tax reform and two others who wanted to know how Crist was going to shorten the waiting list for autism services) weren’t satisfied with the answers they received from Crist, repeating nearly identical quotes afterward: “He didn’t really answer my question.”

“It was a feel good response, but it had no substance,” said Mike Coonan, whose son has autism.

Here’s a rundown of some of the other issues Crist addressed:

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