U.S. Sen. David Vitter, who is parlaying opposition to the Democrats’ plan for health care reform into grist for his 2010 re-election bid, hosts a health care forum in Lafayette Monday afternoon. We know the event is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at the south regional branch of the Lafayette Public Library at 6101 Johnston Street. What remains to be seen is if this forum will be another exercise in selective crowd control and message massage.
Vitter has been accused by his own constituents in other parishes this month of being overly selective in who gets into the building to attend the forum, and of screening questions to ensure that the only ones asked are those which allow him to assail the Obama administration’s proposals and smoke of the talking-points pipe. One account from a forum earlier this month in Jefferson Parish accuses Louisiana's junior senator of excluding local residents so that Tea Party members from outside the parish could attend.