U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek's staff was braced for a stampede when the doors opened Thursday evening to his town hall meeting on healthcare. Dozens of officers stood ready to subdue any violent protesters. No bullhorns allowed, the signs said.

But there were chairs left empty at the 500-seat auditorium at Miami Dade College's North Campus, and no one even raised their voice. This was not the raucous town hall meeting that cable news networks have been recycling this summer.

``I can tell you we have enough room and enough time'' for questions, said Meek, the only member of Congress representing Miami-Dade and Broward who opened a town hall meeting to the public in recent weeks.

Meek's event comes at a time when Democrats are trying to regain momentum in the healthcare debate. President Barack Obama is planning a rare address to Congress on Wednesday.

``We have to put on the pressure to make sure this gets done,'' Monica Russo, president of the Florida SEIU Healthcare Union, said before Meek spoke. ``It's all on us to make sure our voices are heard.''

Some of the Democratic voters in the audience said they were growing worried that Obama was not going to fulfill the promises he made during the campaign. Tim Pringle came to the meeting more than an hour early wearing an American flag T-shirt he got during the 2000 presidential recount.

``I'm very concerned about all the negative propaganda on healthcare that's going around,'' said Pringle, 57.

His friend, 51-year-old Carole Leonard, added, ``The reason I'm here is to remind this guy why we elected him. . . Right now it feels like Bush's third term.''

Meek said that Obama's push for a government-run plan that would compete with private insurers has not drawn enough support in Congress. ``If you're against a public option you're basically saying you want to do nothing about the cost of insurance because they are never going to stop gouging Florida consumers,'' he said.

Meek was joined at the meeting by AARP Florida State Director Lori Parham, who has disputed some of the Republican Party of Florida attacks on the healthcare legislation. She wrote to the state party's chairman, Jim Greer, that he was assailing potential Medicare cuts without mentioning the billions of dollars that would be invested into expanding Medicare and prescription drug coverage.

Some of Meek's colleagues have avoided town hall meetings altogether, while others have arranged to speak to constituents over the phone. On Thursday, a man at a Miami rally for healthcare reform was knocked to the ground by a passerby.

``I think Meek is living up to his obligation to face his constituents while others are dodging the voters,'' said Sean Foreman, an assistant professor of political science at Barry University, who attended the event. ``They say they can reach more people over the phone, but it's obviously more regulated and you don't get the full effect of what people are thinking.''

Foreman added that ``this is a way for Meek, who is running for the U.S. Senate, to get his name in the headlines.''

Meek did not mention his likely Republican opponent, Gov. Charlie Crist, during the event. Earlier Friday, Crist visited Miami Children's Hospital, where he met with a 3-year-old girl with the H1N1 flu virus. The appearance gave local television stations fresh footage, but the governor said he wasn't trying to overshadow his rival's event.

``I didn't even know he was having one,'' Crist said. ``That's funny.''

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