Obama’s Grass-Roots Team Pushes Health Bill
Organizing for America is attempting once again to light up the phone lines on Capitol Hill, urging its grass-roots membership to contact House Members to demand their support for the House health care reform bill. A message from Mitch Stewart, director of the Democratic National Committee-backed group, asks OFA members to call lawmakers and tell them to vote “in favor of real health insurance reform.— The group, which was composed in part with the vast e-mail list assembled by President Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, says it generated 315,000 calls to Congress on Oct. 20 in support of health care reform. But with a vote in the House looming as early as Saturday, Stewart is again putting out the call to pressure fence-sitters and buck up supporters.“Many representatives are standing with the President and fighting hard for reform,— Stewart wrote. “They need to know that they have our thanks and our support. And we need to remind the rest of Congress that Americans need them to rise above partisan divides and stand up to the special interests.—The missive was sent to the full OFA e-mail list, meaning all Members of the House will be contacted. The messages are tailored to each district so recipients will know how to contact their Representatives. Stewart seeks to push people to pick up the phone with a warning that the insurance industry is trying to scuttle the bill.“With just a few days before the vote, the insurance industry and their allies are putting extraordinary pressure on every representative to defeat it,— he wrote. “We know that their expensive lobbyists will be dashing to each congressional office, attempting to twist arms. The only question is whether the phones will be ringing off the hook with constituents supporting reform while that happens.—