King in Spencer Monday

A pair of area town meetings hosted by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley are moving outside to accommodate the larger turnouts sparked by the national health care debate.

The changes include an 11:30 a.m. event Monday in Ruthven. The Grassley town hall meeting has been moved to Ruthven Centennial Park, which is at 1004 Rolling Street. The hourlong meeting was previously slated for the Ruthven Social Center.

Also on Monday, U.S. Rep. Steve King will be in Spencer. He'll be in the round room of the Spencer Public Library at 4:30 p.m. All eight of his upcoming town hall meetings are open to the public.

After the Ruthven stop, Grassley travels south and west as he continues a commitment to visit all 99 counties each year. He circles back to Spencer for a meeting later in the week in Clay County.

The senator announced a change of venue for the Spencer event as well. The 4:30 p.m. meeting Thursday, Aug. 27, has been moved across the street to the courthouse steps. The board room at the Clay County Administration building was the previous site.

The meetings planned in the counties of Greene, Ida, Palo Alto, Plymouth and Pocahontas will be held at different venues than indicated in a previously mailed post card to county residents as well, according to a statement from the senator's office.

"It's great that so many people are getting involved and want to participate in these meetings," Grassley said. "I want to hear what people have to say, and encourage every Iowan to participate in the democratic process by having dialogue with their elected representatives."

President Barack Obama has been trying to sway public opinion on sweeping health care reforms. On Thursday, he guaranteed his health care overhaul would win approval and said any bill he signs will have to reduce rapidly rising costs, protect consumers from insurance abuses and provide affordable choices to the uninsured -- while not adding to the federal deficit.

Grassley and King have lashed out at President Barack Obama's health care reform efforts, with one labeling him "intellectually dishonest" and the other accusing Obama of a "breathtaking" assault on the free market.

King, in an interview with The Associated Press, labeled health care reform "a step toward a managed economy."

"The president has taken great steps toward a managed economy at this point," said King. "It's breathtaking when you look at the scope of the moves that President Obama has taken against the free market so far in his tenure."

Grassley, speaking on Fox News, also lashed out at Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, accusing the two of "diverting attention" from their real goals on health care.

"I think that this is what a president or a speaker of the House has to do when they have a miserably poor health care bill that's not being received well by the people," said Grassley. "They've done a very good job at diverting attention and they're intellectually dishonest when they say it."

Both King and Grassley have been focusing on health care at noisy town hall meetings throughout the August congressional recess.

King dismissed suggestions that a vocal minority of angry voters has been showing up for town hall meetings.

"I think it's becoming a vocal majority," said King.

He said technology is adding to the noise, with digital outlets helping to feed the debate in "the technological equivalent of a rolling town hall meeting."

"We'll start to see whether there's a consensus when we come back after Labor Day," he said.

King said the anger over health care eclipses even the uproar that Congress heard three years ago over immigration reform and the debate over amnesty.

He also declined to deflate speculation that he's interested in running for governor.

"I haven't gone out and postured myself as a candidate for governor, but neither have I ruled it out," said King. "There are good candidates out there and we'll have to see how it emerges."

Information from the Associated Press was included in this coverage.