And like a schoolboy he was forced to ask a questioner to repeat himself at the Q&A because he was "dozing".
BETTMAN: You know what, I don't want to get into a public negotiation, you asked a question … QUESTIONER: What are the facts, Gary?
(He recently energised sullen Democrats by asking a questioner who compared Mr Obama to Hitler "On what planet do you spend most of your time?") Mr Frank is also the first openly gay member of Congress.
– What if you don't like coffee? asks a questioner from the crowd.
When he finished outlining a plan to reform the welfare system, he asked his questioner, a troubled single mother, what she thought of his response.
"What makes you say that?" he asked his questioner.
"Why are you shouting?" he said to one questioner who was just excitedly asking a question.
Asked by a questioner at a town-hall style meeting New Hampshire whether he regretted those votes replied, "We won the cold war".
If that is not enough, then this is beyond my control". "Have you upset Bernie?" he was asked, the questioner knowing the answer full well.
"What you've got to remember," he told a questioner asking about the family, "is that the queen is head of state, and if the media take an interest in her relations, it's up to them, but her relations don't have any particular responsibility other than supporting her".
Then the same questioner asked if Alice was in the audience, and, when I said she was, he asked if she'd mind standing up.
