Poll: Granite Staters Disagree with Hodes, Shea-Porter Town Hall Avoidance

Forty percent of Granite State voters strongly disapprove of Reps. Paul Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter’s decision not to hold town hall meetings on health care during the congressional August recess, according to an exclusive NowHampshire.com poll conducted by Populus Research.

Overall, 46 percent strongly or somewhat disapprove of the congressmen’s decision, while 32 percent strongly or somewhat agree with it. Almost 23 percent have no opinion.

“A plurality of New Hampshire voters strongly disapprove of Paul Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter’s decisions not to hold town hall meetings this August,” said Steve DeMaura of Populus Research.

“With nearly half of the state voicing disapproval of their decision it would not be surprising to see them change course in the days or week to come,” DeMaura added.

Neither Hodes nor Shea-Porter has held public, face-to-face town hall meetings on health care reform. Both have chosen instead to host private meetings with selective audiences and so-called tele-town halls with pre-screened questions.

Both Hodes and Shea-Porter plan to attend the Blue Hampshire Bash, a party for liberal bloggers on August 24th, however.

The new poll results could escalate the growing criticism of New Hampshire’s two Democratic members of Congress. Both the conservative New Hampshire Union Leaders and the liberal Portsmouth Herald have criticized Hodes and Shea-Porter in their editorial pages for avoiding town hall meetings.

There are signs that the two members of Congress may be changing their August recess strategy. A spokesman for Paul Hodes told Fox News on Tuesday that the congressman, “is not running scared,” and that plans to hold a face-to-face town hall are in the works.

NowHampshire.com contacted by Hodes’ and Shea-Porter’s offices, but they were not immediately available for comment.

The poll was conducted by Populus Research among 600 likely General Election voters between August 17 and August 18. It has a margin of error of 4 percent.