republicans have a bit of a problem. A lot of their proposals are unpopular with their constituents, Particularly the ones that would lead to Medicaid cuts. Rather than address these concerns head-on at town hall meeting, they're hiding.
Some Republicans face angry town halls
Some Republicans like Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) have tried to hold town hall meetings. However, they have been rather raucous in nature, harkening back to the Tea Party town halls in 2010. This is because a group called Indivisible is adopting their tactics. In the face of these meetings, several conservative politicians abandoned their venues.
Some are claiming the questioners were paid outsiders but there's never been any proof of this claim.
The people asking the questions have varying concerns. Some are concerned about #Donald Trump's alleged conflicts of interests. Others are concerned about his picks for the cabinet (such as Betsey DeVos). Many are concerned about proposed changes to Medicaid and Medicare, programs that Trump explicitly said he wouldn't change during the campaign.
Republicans finding creative ways to hide
Republicans, like Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), have actually taken to not holding town hall meetings at all. If they do make public appearances, they tend to be low key and try to give as little prior notice to the public as possible.
As people decide to resort to telephone calls (as advocacy groups say that e-mails are ineffective), several offices are simply deciding to disconnect their phone lines.
Other Republicans are giving off the illusion of listening to their constituents by holding virtual town halls on sites like Facebook. This allows the representative's staff to filter out questions so they only get the questions that agree with their point of view.
These dodges have not stopped people from holding their own meetings whether or not the representatives show up.
The issues aren't going away. Some Trump voters, particularly coal miners, are worried about the loss of the Affordable Care Act (in their case, it's because of the black lung disease protections the act offers them).
Others in the Republican rank-and-file, are having trouble swallowing the contradictions between Trump's campaign promise of draining the swamp and filling his cabinet with people from Goldman-Sachs. This will only continue heating up. Time will tell how long representatives continue hiding.
