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"A very friendly audience," NBC's Chuck Todd called it. "Inside the crowd was friendly," commented ABC's Jake Tapper. Tapper dubbed Obama the Fact Checker in Chief as he focused on the problems created by health insurance companies. He assured his audience that he was not in favor of pulling the plug on grandma. Todd found the President "spending much of his time saying what his plan is not going to do." For those who want to eliminate the power of the health insurance industry, Obama disappointed them: "This is not about putting the government in charge." For those who want fiscal discipline in the federal budget, Obama disappointed them: "We are not talking about cutting Medicare benefits." For those who want Medicare for all, Obama disappointed them: "I am not promoting a single player plan." ABC's Tapper fact-checked the Fact Checker: whereas Obama claimed that AARP is backing his plan, "in fact the group has not endorsed any bill."
In search of vitriol in the town halls, NBC's Anne Thompson and CBS' Chip Reid played clips of the heckling and insults confronting Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania and Claire McCaskill in Missouri. "The ferociousness of the attacks has caught many Democrats by surprise," CBS' Reid reported, finding Obama's critics "increasingly in control of the debate." The President's next town meetings will be in Colorado and Montana, where CBS' Reid suggested that he "might finally see that ferocious anger over healthcare reform face-to-face." On NBC, Todd does not think so: "If he did not get any heat here in New Hampshire it is probably unlikely he will get real heat in Colorado or Montana."
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