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SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) KENTUCKY: And to demonize citizens who are energetic about this strikes me as demonstrating a kind of weakness in your position.

In other words, you want to change the subject. And rather talk about the half a trillion dollars in Medicare cuts, let's talk about somebody at some town meeting that misbehaved. It strikes me that's missing the point.

SEN. CLAIRE MCCASKILL, (D) MISSOURI: And there is so much information out there. There is just a whole lot of misinformation that people have taken. And I understand the fear of the unknown is a powerful thing.

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BAIER: Well, the town halls have been a constant topic of discussion here in Washington and around the country about health care. And today in "USA Today" the House Speaker and House Majority Leader wrote an op-ed in which they said "These disruptions are occurring because opponents are afraid not just of differing views but of the facts themselves. Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American. Drowning out the facts is how we failed at this task for decades."

We're back with the panel. Mort, what do you think about this?

KONDRACKE: Well, Nancy Pelosi has backed off from what she said previously. She was accusing the people who were demonstrating as being Nazis and waiving swastikas and stuff like that. Now it's merely un- American. Look, it was bad form for the Code Pink ladies to disrupt Congressional hearings and raise a racket against the Iraq war. It is just as much hooliganism to have these right wingers, or whoever they are, barging into these meetings and preventing a reasonable discussion. And I'm amazed at how chicken the Republican leadership is about saying, look, you guys, calm down. Ask tough, probing questions of these congressmen. Embarrass them if you like. But don't shut the place down.

BAIER: Senator McConnell said as much on "FOX News Sunday" this weekend.

KONDRACKE: Well, he mentioned everyone should be civil, but these people should have the right to speak and all the rest of it.

I think the leadership is afraid of Rush Limbaugh, apparently, because Rush Limbaugh is encouraging all this stuff.

BAIER: Charles.

KRAUTHAMMER: The Democrats are pulling a rabbit out of a hat, and the Republicans or conservatives are handing the Democrats the rabbit. The Democrats have no argument. They have no facts. They don't even really have a bill.

And if people were just to stand up and quietly and civilly raise questions, the money doesn't add up. The CBO has said that you say it is going to control costs, but it increases it by $1 trillion. All of this stuff, it's really out there. They would be winning this debate as they were before the town halls.

What's happening is this is causing a backlash. It's completely unnecessary. It is shooting yourself in the foot. If you want to demonstrate, you want to shout, you do it outside carrying signs. When you walk inside, you ask questions.

This is going to have two effects. Public opinion will make people, if anything, rather unsympathetic to those who oppose the bills.

And secondly, it's going to give a great excuse for the Democrats when Congress returns to push a partisan bill with no Republican support and say it's because the opposition is not - is simply oppositionist without any arguments and is acting in an irresponsible way.

This is a disaster, and it shouldn't be happening.

BAIER: Steve, there is a lot of coverage, obviously, of the folks that are concerned about health care, raising their voices, et cetera. But there isn't a lot of coverage of these other organizations that are on the other side.

Healthcare for America Now is a national grassroots campaign, more than 1,000 organizations, 46 states, according to its Web site, representing 30 million people. They have a detailed playbook for thwarting town hall protestors. It's both sides on this thing.

HAYES: This is a massive campaign. Both sides are trying to win the PR war. And I think Charles is right that as a descriptive matter that Democrats have won the last week because they have managed to change the subject.

What I think is important, though, is that that doesn't change the overall politics of this. I think the damage was done over the course of several weeks when people were exposed to the arguments and the actual plans. They became more and more skeptical of the kinds of reforms that the president and Congress are talking about.

It certainly may help the White House spin a partisan victory on health care if that's, in fact, what they get. It doesn't, I don't think, change the underlying dynamic that a lot of people are skeptical of this level of government involved in medical decisions.