President Obama is intensifying his campaign for healthcare reform amidst an increasingly contentious public debate. In recent weeks, protesters have turned up at meetings held by Democratic lawmakers across the nation to oppose proposals for a government-funded health option. Democrats say right-wing operatives have orchestrated some of the protests. On Tuesday, Democratic Senators Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Claire McCaskill of Missouri faced hostile crowds at separate public events. Meanwhile in Georgia, the office of Democratic Congress member David Scott was vandalized with a swastika spray-painted on a sign bearing his name. Scott took part in a public healthcare forum last week. Speaking at his own “town hall”-style event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire Tuesday, Obama said the need for reform is dire.

President Obama: “I don’t have to explain to you that nearly 46 million Americans don’t have health insurance coverage today. In the wealthiest nation on earth, 46 million of our fellow citizens have no coverage. They are just vulnerable. If something happens, they go bankrupt, or they don’t get the care they need.”

Obama also addressed his Republican critics, accusing them of falsifying the issues.

President Obama: “Where we do disagree, let’s disagree over things that are real, not these wild misrepresentations that bear no resemblance to anything that’s actually been proposed. Because the way politics works sometimes is that people who want to keep things the way they are will try to scare the heck out of folks, and they’ll create boogeymen out there that just aren’t real.”

As Obama spoke, dozens of people rallied outside denouncing his healthcare agenda. One protester openly carried a handgun strapped to his leg. A local police chief, Ed Strong, said the handgun is legal under New Hampshire state law.

Ed Strong: “Well, it’s the law in many states in the United States. If it’s not concealed, it’s legal to carry it, and it’s something that we have to live with.”

The man with the loaded gun was carrying a sign quoting Thomas Jefferson that read, “It is time to water the tree of Liberty.” The complete line, not included on the sign, continues, “…with the blood of tyrants and patriots.” Obama is scheduled to hold two more town halls in Montana and Colorado later this week.