Back in 2020, I wrote Better Politics Please, an idealistic little book that dreamed of a functional, more friendly political climate. Roughly six months after it came out, January 6th happened and it all felt hopelessly naive. A presidential election cycle later it feels like we’re stuck in the same place. But every now and then the naive hope of that book shines through.

Today it comes from Republican Representative Michael Flood from Nebraska. You’ve probably seen headlines about him being booed at town halls. You might remember him as they guy who admitted to voting for the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ and missing a section that defanged the federal courts.

But the guy is actually holding town halls, when Republican leadership has encouraged their entire party not to do it.

The Daily sat down with Flood to ask why.

(A note on The Daily: I dislike this show. I rarely listen to the radio in the car anymore, but when I do and this show comes on, I find something else. I don’t know if it’s the condescending narration or the way the host pauses way too often. It bugs me. With that in mind, I’m linking to the transcript because I find that much more palatable.)

Here’s what he said:

“It’s good for America that we have Republicans and Democrats that can spend an hour and a half in a room together. And yeah, there’s some shouting and yelling, but I got the chance to say what I wanted to say. I got the chance to explain my votes. I got the chance to essentially debate with a few of my constituents. And they got the chance, in their eyes, to hold me accountable, and to tell me how they felt. We all got something out of it.”

During one of the town halls, someone in the crowd called Flood a fascist. He responded, “Fascists don’t hold town halls with open question and answer sessions.”

When asked about that, here’s how Flood responded:

“That’s the town square. That’s politics. That’s what we do. That’s like, if I think that my votes are the right votes, I should have no problem standing in the town square and defending them. And I did that.”

And that bit about not knowing what was in the bill? He owned it. He said he felt terrible. And he worked with the Senate to make sure it was removed. He said the system worked. When asked if he understood why people were upset, he said:

“The only way through that, though, is to tell them the truth. And you know what? I slept better that night than I had in a long time because I didn’t blink. And as mad as people are and as much as people can get upset about that, isn’t that kind of what they also want? They want you to stand up. They want you to be there.”

I probably don’t agree with Flood on policy. But I absolutely agree with him on the value of public town halls, on the very American practice of holding our elected officials to account.

Flood recalls the first town hall he remembers, more than 20 years ago in Nebraska about shutting down rural schoolhouses. He describes the more than three hours of emotionally wrought testimony and how it inspired him.

“When I saw that, I said, this is everything I wanted it to be. This is the job I want to be in. …  It was very powerful for me to witness the people exercising their right to protest and the power that it had.”

I’ve sat through my share of three-hour meetings, and it’s hard to be that positive about them. Yes, it’s good for people to express their opinion—but do I have to sit through it?

And yet, yes, there is power in the people speaking. Not everywhere in the world allows that. And not everywhere does it make a difference. Sometimes we just disagree. But sometimes, as Rep. Flood showed, it matters.