If the Democrats were honest about all the protests over healthcare, they would have to admit they are being outmaneuvered with their own tactics. That is why they are accusing protestors at townhalls of being astroturf. They are so used to planting anti-war protestors at events and using union thugs, they have never seen actual middle class working people take time off from their jobs to protest.

Here’s a clue for them — it is not lobbyist backed astroturf. It is not AFP and FreedomWorks hired guns showing up. The networks they have are actually not large enough to make it all happen.

What the Democrats are experiencing is the power of local radio. I’m getting asked by lots of people, “Okay, seriously, how are people finding out about these events and showing up?” Look no further than 97.1 FM in St. Louis. The morning guys there have been pushing people to take on Russ Carnahan over Cash for Clunkers and healthcare.

In Florida, it’s places like WCOA in Pensacoloa where my good friend Ron Frasier works. Lee Rogers at KSFO both on air and online has information on all the local townhalls and which congressmen to call.

It’s the same whether it’s Herman Cain in Atlanta or Chris Krok in Macon or Rick Roberts in San Diego or Alan Autry in Fresno or literally hundreds of other talk radio voices across the country.

It’s all being done on local radio, flying under the radar of the D.C. hacks at the DNC. That’s the real power here. It’s power the DNC and the left do not have. That’s why the left is going after Americans for Prosperity, Freedom Works, and the healthcare industry, while themselves relying on real thugs from the SEIU and AFL-CIO to threaten and intimidate the middle class workers taking time off to oppose Obamacare.

The real astroturf here is the left relying on unions and MoveOn.org to drum up sentiment against the middle class workers opposed to healthcare. The polls show a majority of Americans oppose Obamacare. The protests are real and local talk radio is giving voice and aid to the opposition.

The left cannot compete with local talk radio rallying local citizens to take local action. They can only use national news networks to smear the citizens and discredit their voices. The problem for them is that there are a lot more local radio shows and local people mad about Obamacare. And the more the left attacks them, the madder the middle class will get at the left.

It’s a win-win for opponents to Obamacare, which is why we’re seeing a sudden shift in tactics — Democrats arranging their own protests outside Republican congressional offices and sending union thugs to threaten and harass middle class protestors. Because no one is actually buying that these middle class working families in their polo shirts and Banana Republic jeans are doing any real harm, the Democrats will get union thugs to go start real, physical fights at townhalls to improve their version of events on the nightly newscasts.

It’s what losing dictatorships do — send in thugs to start violence in peaceful protests, then blame the peaceful protestors. We see it in Iran, China, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Indonesia, Korea, and other third world nations.

The Democrats know they are losing. Soon they’ll pick back up the Fairness Doctrine because of it.