Mary Burge is not one of those people who go to political rallies.
But the Spotsylvania County resident was one of about 1,800 people who made their way to the Fredericksburg Expo and Convention Center last night for Democratic Sen. Mark Warner's forum on health care reform.
Burge, who owns her own business, stood with small signs made of manila folders affixed to wooden rulers that read, "tort reform now" and "out of control spending," among other things.
Like just about everybody who has weighed in on this debate, she agrees that something needs to be done about the skyrocketing cost of health care. But she doesn't understand how an already heavily indebted federal government can afford what's being proposed.
"I have five grandchildren, and it scares me that they're going to have to pay for this," Burge said.
Ken Brantley never really sought the political spotlight, either.
But the Richmond ophthalmologist stood in the Expo Center parking lot yesterday, white coat slung over his shoulder, ready to walk in to Warner's forum.
When Brantley's wife left her previous job to come work for his practice, she figured she would get her insurance through her new job.
But when she discovered she was pregnant in the middle of that transition, she was declined by his insurer. And she missed the window to buy COBRA coverage through her previous job.
"I remember my wife crumpled up in a ball, and she said, 'I just can't believe this could happen to us,'" Brantley said.
As the crowd at last night's forum demonstrated, the national debate over health care is emotional, personal and far from simple.
Questions from the audience quickly turned into heated political speeches, and at times so many people started yelling that it was hard to tell which side they were yelling for.
For Fredericksburg resident Scott Weiss, the health care debate stirs up his belief that modern American government has moved too far from the intentions of its founding fathers.
"There is no place in the constitution where health care is mentioned," Weiss said. "Maybe there should be a place for it, but if there is, then you need to change the constitution to do that."
He thinks other legislation, like the energy bill that recently passed the house, also oversteps government's authority.
"If the climate is changing, who are we to change it back?" he said. "We're not God."
Just a few feet behind Weiss in the line to get in, Gary Loeffler stood holding a large picture of his grandson.
Loeffler's grandson was born with a neuroblastoma, a form of cancer that Loeffler said got him rejected from private health care plans.
His family's experience with trying to get him health care convinced Loeffler that a so-called "public option" plan is necessary to give private insurers competition.
For those who went into last night's forum seeking answers, it was hard to leave satisfied.
Keisha Lemon said she supports President Barack Obama but has questions and concerns about the health care proposals.
"I wanted to hear what the people who'd had bad experiences [with government health care] had to say," she said, but with all the yelling, that was difficult.
She said she'll keep researching on her own and write letters to her elected officials, but leaving last night's forum, she said, "I haven't learned anything."
Emily Battle: 540/374-5413
Email: ebattle@freelancestar.com