Congressman James Langevin (D-02) is poised to host a town hall meeting here in Warwick at the community room in the police station on Wednesday, Aug. 19 at 6 p.m.

The town hall meetings have become the political phenomena and story of the summer. Democrats initially planned to use the town hall meetings as an opportunity to make the case for the planned national health care overhaul being bandied about in Congress. But they have often turned into raucous gatherings, with those in attendance criticizing their representatives, saying the plans would lead to runaway costs, rationed care and an overall weaker health care system in America.

The Democrats have sought to portray the people who have disrupted the meetings as pawns of the Republican Party and insurance industry. The conservatives, however, say their protests are what the Democrats asked for—democracy.

Joy Fox, Langevin’s spokeswoman, when asked about the town hall meeting, said it wouldn’t be strictly focused on health care. Instead, Langevin will answer any question a constituent might have.

“Congressman Langevin has a pretty long track record of holding town hall meetings, and we do everything we can to hear our constituents’ concerns,” said Fox.

Fox said that Langevin would also host another town hall meeting in Westerly on Sept. 3 at Wilcox Park on the bandstand.

When asked, Fox said it’s purely coincidental that the meeting is being held in the police station, and that he isn’t expecting a boisterous crowd. The meeting room at the police station was the most convenient place available, she said.

“We hope to have a good conversation on the issues. That’s why the Congressman does these meetings and he is looking forward to hearing from the constituents on the issues,” said Fox.

One person Langevin can expect to hear from is Bill Felkner. Felkner is the president of the Ocean State Policy Research Institute, a conservative think tank located in Rhode Island, which is quickly developing a reputation for producing voluminous amounts of policy analysis.

In a blast e-mail, Felker criticized the health care bills in Congress, saying the costs will be onerous and the efficiencies will be many.

When told about the meeting yesterday, Felkner immediately saved the date in his electronic scheduler saying he’d attend.

Felkner said Langevin shouldn’t expect him to be raucous, but should look forward to some difficult questions about how national reform would affect people’s health care costs, options and availability.

Felkner, who has been following the town hall meetings, said there have been some unruly characters, but their occurrences have been exaggerated.

“I remember a couple of years ago when the liberals protested [the Iraq War],” he said. “Then, they said a vibrant debate is a patriotic duty. Now that [conservatives] are protesting they’re saying we’re an angry mob.”