Barney, we hardly knew ye. (Redistricting and MA-04)

UPDATE 1/2/2012: Joseph P. Kennedy III likely to run for Congress « On Politics
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(pulling these updates from my Lynch town hall post, to make a separate post on these developing topics)

11/9/2011: The new, proposed Congressional maps have been released, and as widely expected (at least by me), Needham has been taken OUT of Lynch's district, and we are now in the MA-4th Congressional District, along with our neighbors Wellesley and Newton, which is currently represented by Barney Frank.   Though it was anticipated that there might be a challenge between Lynch and Keating, turns out that's not going to happen.

Rep. Lynch's Needham Town Hall: The Surprising and the Not

[see UPDATES at end of post for REDISTRICTING and BARNEY FRANK]
Recently, Congressman Stephen Lynch came to Needham as part of a series of "town hall"-style fora around the 9th District.

This Needham Patch article offers a good write-up of the scene and the topics covered.  I just want to point out here the surprising and not surprising elements of what I heard on that day.

First, Mr. Lynch deserves kudos for being much improved from his spring town halls, which felt much more uni-directional than being an open exchange of ideas. In spring, attendees submitted questions on index cards, which were sorted thru by a moderator, and then the Congressman answered. The opportunity for follow up and questions was not there, or did not happen for whatever reasons.  For dog's sake, someone said, "Keep government out of my Medicare" and Mr. Lynch replied, "I totally agree with you sir" without any opportunity for pushback!!