Earnest supporters, a few hecklers meet Jared Polis outside Vic’s Coffee

Bob Wells | Aug 7, 2009

Congressman Jared Polis bravely faced his constituents outside Vic’s at Broadway and Alpine in Boulder Friday morning, Aug. 7.

Some 300 people encircled the coffee shop’s entrance and spilled out into the parking lot. The crowd appeared probably two-thirds supporters of Polis and the Obama healthcare initiatives, the other one-third doubters and detractors plus a half-dozen vociferous interrupters and hecklers.

As Rep. Polis delivered brief opening comments and then answered about six questions from attendees, a few badly outnumbered “tea party”-style hecklers were each time hissed to silence by the crowd. After perhaps 15 minutes of questions-and-answers before the entire group, Polis spent another hour in serious dialogue with a smaller group who were able to get within unamplified earshot.

Blessedly, the event was peaceful; two Boulder policemen stood unobtrusively by. Rep. Polis was clearly among mostly friends in the ultra-liberal Newlands neighborhood of North Boulder. Definitely not a good place for a rightwing “tea party.”

(Bob Wells photos)