Lots of chatter yesterday about how House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer ran into more 'grassroots' protesters at a public event and was put on the defensive, the way 'grassroots' conservatives have been organizing across the country in hopes of shutting down town hall forums to discuss health care reform.

Hoyer appeared at a press conference in Utica, N.Y., to talk about government funding for high-speed rails when protesters started yelling at him, and repeatedly calling him a “liar.” The scene fit neatly into the emerging storyline about Dems getting ambushed by angry voters nationwide and how the encounters a) highlight the growing anger across the country and b) have Dems back on their heels.

Except when you actually watch the raw footage from the Utica showdown, the show of 'grassroots' activism becomes almost comical. By my count, there were no more than a handful of protesters at the Utica event. Watching the video, you can see one nearby man telling the loudmouths to be quiet. (“Listen!) And at one point, a man gets up and moves, apparently not wanting to be near, or associated with, the rude hecklers, one of whom starts ranting about how high the corporate tax rate is. (So much for health care reform.)

Anyway, Glenn Thrush at Politico gets this scene about right and provides important context:

A closer look at this video also calls into question whether this is a serious grass-roots movement of town hall protesters or just a few folks holding “tea party” signs. The Utica crowd, shown by a local TV news station, is sparse, and the anger seems to be coming from just a few in the audience.