U.S. Rep. French Hill and Sen. Tom Cotton will meet the public at a town hall event today at 2 p.m. at the Embassy Suites in west Little Rock.

Doors are at 1:30 p.m.; those hoping to get in probably ought to show up significantly earlier than that. The event will be just 60 minutes, lasting from 2 to 3. Despite a huge outpour of citizen requests for a town hall — Hill’s office acknowledged as much — this is his first such appearance since his re-election (and since grassroots protest movements have erupted in the wake of President Donald Trump’s election).  Hill is bringing along Cotton, who is probably more adept at handling the inevitable hostile questions, as a wingman.

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In order to make it maximally convenient for citizens to attend, the event is being held in the middle of the day on a Monday.  Of course.

David Koon will be on the scene for a report.

Members of the local chapters of the grassroots group Indivisible are expected to attend, as well as other local liberal activists. Cotton will also speak at noon on Wednesday at a Clinton School event, taking written questions from the audience.

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Update: As Max has mentioned before, Indivisible has labeled this a “sham town hall” because of the timing and constraints:


Indivisible anticipated this sort of thing in a guide it prepared back in April for those hoping to fight back:

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Town halls that your MoC hopes no one will attend are those scheduled at times and in places they know are inconvenient for most of their constituents. But you can overcome these Sham Town Halls, too.

Organize your group around a press strategy demanding that your MoC hold a more reasonably scheduled town hall.

If your MoC won’t listen, turn the event’s limitations in your group’s favor by showing up early and organizing a caravan to their remote town hall location.