Health care reform debate boils over among La. voters

NEW ORLEANS - The debate on health care reform is boiling over at town hall meetings across the country, and Louisiana has seen its share of sparring in recent days.

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An overflow crowd showed up for a forum hosted by Sen. Mary Landrieu in Reserve last week. Protestors waved signs, chanted, and shouted throughout the meeting.

Dr. Peter Burns, a Loyola University political science professor, said the issue is one of the most polarizing political battles in recent memory.

"Just the kind of anger and people being upset, it doesn't make sense to me in some respects, because I think that this is an issue that people want to see resolved. I mean they clearly believe there's a problem," Burns said. "I think both sides believe there's a problem."

Burns said the fight, however, moves well beyond the ongoing wrangling over the complicated health care reform proposals in Washington.

"Clearly there are people who are genuinely interested in this," Burns said. "But I also think that the more militant and vocal parts of this are people who oppose Obama or support Obama, and this is the battlefield to do that."

Eyewitness News Political Analyst Clancy DuBos agrees.

"I'm generally appalled at the level of ignorance on all sides of this thing," DuBos said. "You have some people who are blindly for a public option. You have some people blindly against it."

Landrieu called the meeting in Reserve a success, saying it was an opportunity to hear diverse opinions on the issue.

But many in the crowd were emotional, and downright angry - ?something DuBos believes is a product of media bias.

"There are so many people in the media - a lot of radio talk shows - that are just fanning the flames of anti-Obama hysteria, without really shedding any light on this situation," he said.

Political analysts we talked with say people on both sides of the debate have legitimate arguments, but they're concerned about misinformation, and misunderstanding among those fighting on the extreme ends of the issue.

"They can't be swayed," Burns said. "It's the people in the middle who are the ones who are going to be swayed. And I think that this debate has the potential to just really alienate people, and say, 'I want out of it.'"