Television cameras will be rolling when Sen. Arlen Specter's traveling town hall show hits Kittanning tomorrow, and they likely will capture some conflict.

Along with many of his Democratic colleagues, Mr. Specter has faced hostile crowds during the August recess while meeting with constituents, many of whom are riled up about health care reform that is working its way through Congress.

Yesterday, Mr. Specter was challenged at a particularly volatile meeting in Lebanon County by speakers who accused him of trampling on their constitutional rights, adding to the federal deficit or allowing government bureaucrats to take over health care.

"You'll be gone, but, by God, the bureaucrats will still be here," one man said.

"My children and grandchildren are going to pay for this," said another.

"One day, God will stand before you and judge you!" a third shouted directly in the senator's face. Security guards approached, and he left the room.

"There is more anger in America today than at any time I can remember," Mr. Specter told reporters after yesterday's Lebanon County meeting.

But Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, said the news media's focus on extreme incidents has overshadowed the daily run-of-the-mill discussions taking place about health care. "It's frustrating for a lot of us that are trying to get information out there about health care -- and get accurate information out there -- to [see the media] give the sense that the entire debate is angry people yelling at legislators, when that's not the case," Mr. Doyle said.

"People do think we need to do something. There might not be total agreement on what that is yet, but I think it would be fair to say that there's a broad consensus among Americans that this system is unsustainable."

August is being painted as a critical month by supporters and detractors of a health care overhaul, as both sides work to shape public opinion before Congress returns to work after Labor Day.

Thus far, three committees in the House have approved different versions of a health care bill, while the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has approved one version and the Senate Finance Committee is working on separate legislation.

Conservative groups have incited supporters to show their displeasure for the bills by contacting their representatives. The Obama administration -- which has put health care at the top of its domestic agenda -- has responded with a Web site, linked from whitehouse.gov, to fight what it feels are misconceptions about the reform it is pushing.

President Barack Obama held his own town hall yesterday in New Hampshire on the matter.

"There are a lot of strong feelings on both sides," Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., said yesterday. "There's no question a lot of this is rooted in political conflict and combat."

The right-leaning Americans for Tax Reform has published an "Obama Spin Translator" on its Web site, denouncing the president's health care plans, and has prodded its members to attend congressional town halls.

Grover Norquist, ATR's president, dismissed as whiners those who say the protesters are too shrill. "They turned around and acted like someone kicked them in kindergarten -- 'the bad kids are being mean to me,' " he said.

"The more questions you ask, the better off we are, because these congressmen and senators have not read the bills they're about to vote for. They don't know what's in there."

Some town hall forum confrontations have been anything but civil. Scuffles have broken out at events in Tampa, Fla., and outside St. Louis. An effigy of Rep. Frank Kratovil Jr., D-Md., was hanged. Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., reported a death threat. Yesterday, a swastika was found painted on a sign outside the district office of Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., about a week after he was involved in a contentious argument over health care at a community meeting.

Mr. Specter's sessions are being echoed, with a technological twist, by local congressmen in Capitol Hill's other chamber.

Mr. Doyle is holding a telephone town hall meeting Aug. 31, when his office will call everyone in his district to invite them to participate in a discussion on health care and other topics. Mr. Doyle said this is not to avoid protests at an in-person meeting, but rather to reach more constituents at a time. He said he hasn't held a live town hall in years.

Rep. Jason Altmire, D-McCandless, plans a similar telephone town hall in early September. Rep. John P. Murtha, D-Johnstown, will hold one Sept. 2, with calls going to constituents in Fayette, Somerset and Cambria counties. He already staged a telephone town hall for his Allegheny, Westmoreland, Armstrong and Indiana County constituents.

Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, held in-person and telephone events before the recess, as his Energy and Commerce Committee marked up one of the health care bills. The bill moved out of committee without Mr. Murphy's support.

Discourse only becomes heated, he said, when constituents feel snubbed or silenced by their elected leaders. "Anger is not the valuable tool here," Mr. Murphy said. "We have to get people to redirect it towards input and make sure people in Congress listen to it."

First Published: August 12, 2009, 8:00 a.m.