On August 26th, I spoke at a rally in Macon, GA opposing Obamacare. Hundreds of people were there.

The hometown newspaper puts the level of passion in perspective with a contrasting rally held by those who support Obamacare.

About 40 people showed up Tuesday to rally at Rosa Parks Square in support of President Obama’s health-care plan.

It proved a stark contrast from a “tea party” rally held at the square last week, which drew about 300 people and several speakers protesting what is being termed “ObamaCare.” Tuesday’s 45-minute rally in downtown Macon was much more scaled-down.

Failing that, he’ll just have Organizing for America use them as a fundraising foil.

Yes.  Foil. Greg Sargent:

This has to be the Obama camp’s most direct and premeditated shot at the media yet: His outside political operation just blasted an email to supporters directly faulting the press for falling down on the job of debunking health care “lies.”

The email from Organizing for America, which was forwarded by a reader, is obviously not addressed to the media and explicitly focuses blames on the press for the traction that reform foes have gained. Hitting the media riles the base, and the email also asks for donations to fund OFA, because “stepping in where the media fails is a daunting challenge.”

(Copy of email here)

Glenn Reynolds (H/T) thinks this is the current administration running through the arc of the last administration’s second term at double speed: I think that it’s a natural result of the Democrats going out and finding a left-wing duplicate not of George W Bush, but of their flawed and partisan perception of George W Bush. The two views are probably not incompatible, of course. It’s also kind of funny to see Sargent’s self-consciously understated disapproval; reading between the lines, he’s as affronted as a cat being served kibble instead of tuna - but his own comments section is highly sympathetic to the ‘right-wing media’ fundraising ploy, so he can’t show it too plainly…

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

President Obama’s campaign organization, Organizing for America, goes way, way too far.

Team Obama wants to use 9/11 to push back against protesters, referred to as “Right-Wing Domestic Terrorists” by calling Senators in support of the Obamacare public government option.

Today, the Obama campaign folks sent out a notice to “grassroots” supporters about the planned 9/11″health care organizing event”:

What day? Our US Senators return to DC the Tues after Labor Day. That next FRIDAY, Sep 11, is Patriot Day, designated in memory of the nearly three thousand who died in the 9/11 attacks.

All 50 States are coordinating in this – as we fight back against our own Right-Wing Domestic Terrorists who are subverting the American Democratic Process, whipped to a frenzy by their Fox Propaganda Network ceaselessly re-seizing power for their treacherous leaders.

The offensive notice has been scrubbed from the Organizing for America website, but I was able to get the following screenshot [click for larger image].

How dare they? Don’t contemplate the nearly 3,000 innocent souls murdered by the
terrorists. Instead, politicize a day of remembrance. Whatever happened
to what presidential candidate Obama said on September 11, 2008:

Americans across our great country came together to stand with the
families of the victims, to donate blood, to give to charity, and to
say a prayer for our country. Let us renew that.

What happened to all that hope?

Don’t let team Obama get away with hijacking Patriot Day, a day that should remain a day of remembrance. Don’t wait until the Obamatons launch the planned Senate assault. Call your Senators and your Representatives now. Let them know what you think about this despicable effort to politicize 9/11. Tell them what you think of the president’s campaign organization calling protesters terrorists. Do it now.

A big h/t to the Heritage Foundation.

One of the leading opponents on Congress of the Democrats’ healthcare plans is Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI). Over the next two weeks, he will have a series of townhalls in his district to talk about healthcare.

RedState has obtained an email showing the Democrats and Barack Obama’s own Organizing for America are working to actively disrupt Paul Ryan’s townhalls.

In the email, Democrat activists Kelly Gallaher sends out a series of instructions for activists, telling them to keep them secret.

She writes that “the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, Organizing for America, and Community for Change are wroking together to promote attendance at these sessions.”

At each session there’ll be a 4 page brochure on “Organizing for Health Care”; “information on why Paul Ryan’s health care plan is wrong”; “Contact information for Ryan, Feingold, Kohl and [Organizing for America]“; and other items.

She adds “if we encounter official resistance to our table, we will have bags to carry all the same information. The rally signs may not be allowed in the actual meeting place.” Why would there be official resistance? Well, this is a townhall for a Congressman, not a rally for Organizing for America.

The stated goal is “to overwhelm each session with reform supporters.

But it’s not just that.

On August 27th, Congressman Ryan is going to have one townhall in Racine, WI, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Ms. Gallaher writes, “For the Racine session, which runs until 2:30, we have reserved the room until 5pm, so the session can continue with or without Paul Ryan. (That is a bit of secret, so don’t tell Paul Ryan!)

In other words, they are going to try to drum up some bad PR for the Congressman — all using Barack Obama’s own horde of volunteers.

The best way to combat this is to show up yourselves. Get all the details from Kelly Gallaher’s email.

Via RS Reader izoneguy comes this heartwarming story of lowered expectations in the health care rationing wars. Yesterday, it was a nascent national movement dedicated to bringing The Audacity Of Hope And Change That You Can Believe In to the huddle masses; today, they’re trying to get enough people together for a decent potluck. And how is it working out for them?

“We had 10 people. Not a huge number, but good,” said Ms. Adkins, 55, who has been an Obama volunteer since the first day she saw him during a stop here on March 11, 2007.

Not that there’s anything wrong with potlucks; in fact, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for the Tea Party folks to start planning to have them after the town halls. Save some money on takeout that way.  Of course, given the number of people who show up to the town halls it’d probably make sense to split them up into multiple potlucks, but that’s a logistical issue.

Read More →

Barack Obama’s brownshirts are after Glenn Beck.

We can’t let them win. If they win with Beck, they’ll be emboldened to go after even more people.

A while back, Glenn Beck called Barack Obama a “racist.” Given all the terrorists, thugs, and racists Barack Obama has chosen as close personal friends (see e.g. Rev. Wright), it’s not a stretch to say it.

In fact, Obama’s Green Jobs Czar, the convicted felon and [Editor's Note: I actually find this on blogs, but haven't found it on a real news site, so I'm striking] self-declared communist Van Jones, has direct ties to the organization that’s trying to shut down Glenn Beck. Jones’s group has hired a big Hollywood PR firm and they are pressuring Glenn’s advertisers to stop advertising. If not, they’ll lead a boycott.

We need to strike back and boycott these groups for ditching Beck. If they are going to fold so easily in the face of Obama brownshirts, we must push back. If not, who’ll be next?

Here’s the list of the groups that have boycotted Glenn Beck. Let them know you disagree. Let them know you will boycott them for kowtowing to Barack Obama’s worshippers, brownshirts, goons, and thugs.

SC Johnson:
Fisk Johnson Chairman & CEO
Phone: (262)260-2000

Petrell Ozbay
Senior Global Public Affairs Manager
Phone: (262) 260-2114
pmozbay@scj.com

Progressive Insurance:
Glenn Renwick, President & CEO- (440)461-5000

Linda Harris, Advertising & Sponsorships
Linda_J._Harris@progressive.com

Geico:
Tony Nicely
Chairman, President & CEO, Insurance Operations
E-mail: tnicely@geico.com
(301) 986-2462

Chris Tasher, GEICO Media Relations
301-986-3271
ctasher@geico.com

UPDATE: Matthew Vadum commented and also emailed to note he had written about this yesterday. You can read what he wrote here.

The media was all too quick to play up a memo written by some guy in Connecticut on how to show up at Democrat townhall meetings to disrupt them.

Will the media do the same when the left does it.

This left-wing blog is organizing a disruption of Senator Jim DeMint’s townhall meeting in Myrtle Beach on August 19th.

The website contains an indication that the blogger is part of Barack Obama’s Organizing for America” and refers people to Heath Care for America NOW! for “resources, talking points, and facts.” He’s also a member of the United Steelworkers Local 7898.

Among the other things suggested to left-wing activists is

Bring more signs and leaflets, and whenever possible, post your signs all over the place so that you visually out-perform the other side. Make sure you have people holding signs in every place where a TV camera is likely to be and that next to every right wing sign, there’s one of your signs with your message.

Also,

Line up a number of people who feel comfortable interrupting and prepare them with statements like:

• Excuse me, I came today to listen to Representative XXX explain how this bill is going to make health care more affordable for me and my family. We’re being gouged by insurance companies that just want to make more profits while we struggle to keep up with premiums and co-pays. Representative, how are you going to fix that?”
• “I’m retired and can’t afford my prescription drugs because I’m on a fixed income. Representative, how is this bill going to affect me?”
• “I want to hear the Representative speak. He’s the one voting on the bill. Representative, how will this bill help people who already have insurance at work?”
• “What I’m worried about is how we’re going to keep the insurance companies from continuing to charge people more for being sick and keep them from taking away coverage when we need it most. What’s the plan for that?”

The media extensively covered the memo from the small Connecticut group no one had ever heard of before. Will the media cover the left actually organizing to disrupt a specific townhall meeting?

Hari Sevugan is the Democrats’ spokesperson at the DNC. Sevugan is the one responsible for suggesting Eric Cantor supported or, more precisely “fanned the flames” on Nazi-ish conduct among Obamacare opponents. Nevermind that Cantor is Jewish. And nevermind that Cantor was in Israel and unable to respond at the time.

Sevugan is now either lying or just foolish. Either way, the DNC and Barack Obama are really souring relations with Democrats in Congress.

Moe noted yesterday that Barack Obama’s “Organizing for America”, which is run out of the Democratic National Committee, has been scheduling people to meet with their members of Congress. The constituents were getting emails confirming their appointments, showing up, then discovering that there was no appointment. Congresscritters are hacked off with all these people showing up for appointments that were never really scheduled.

Well, Sevugan said

the issue was “not a widespread problem” and characterized contact between lawmakers and the DNC, which is the president’s political operation, as “a couple of questions.”

Heh. That’s called being foolish or lying.

By Wednesday, the scope had grown considerably. Sevugan said it was understandable given the size of the effort that a few people would misinterpret the instructions.

More:

Dianne Feinstein has complained that as many as 100 people showed up expecting a meeting with the senator herself. And Republican aides say they have gotten complaints from 15 House GOP offices saying that the blast e-mail from President Obama’s political arm led some people to believe that they actually had a meeting with their member of Congress.

In fact, numerous members of Congress of both parties have been encountering Democratic activists in their offices who thought they had an appointment. It makes the Congressmen, regardless of party, look bad when a person shows up thinking they have a appointment scheduled via Barack Obama complete with an email confirmation. And it, in turn, really makes the congressmen angry at Barack Obama.

Way to play to core competencies, Obama and Hari!

Some of you may have gotten a version of this email from Organizing For America, offering to help you sign up for a meeting at your local member of Congress’ office.  The problem is that the follow-up email is - according to Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein - causing people to believe that they have a confirmed meeting with their Representative or Senator:

…some constituents took the follow-up email to mean that they had a hard-and-fast scheduled meeting with their members of Congress, and around 100 such people showed up at Feinstein’s offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles, Feinstein spokesperson Gil Duran says. The visitors got upset when they learned they didn’t have a scheduled meeting, Duran says, adding that Feinstein’s office “expressed their concerns” to the White House.

Republican Members of Congress have reported similar problems. So, remember:

Read More →

Barack Obama really has no shame. His statements are coming with shorter and shorter expiration dates. Pretty soon his promises will have a shelf life less than milk.

On July 4, 2009, writing in the Washington Post, Ceci Connolly wrote that Barack Obama wants advocacy groups to stop going after moderate Democrats.

In a pre-holiday call with half a dozen top House and Senate Democrats, Obama expressed his concern over advertisements and online campaigns targeting moderate Democrats, whom they criticize for not being fully devoted to “true” health-care reform.

“We shouldn’t be focusing resources on each other,” Obama opined in the call, according to three sources who participated in or listened to the conversation. “We ought to be focused on winning this debate.”

Fast forward to today.

David M. Drucker, in Roll Call, reports that Barack Obama is using his group to target moderate Democrats.

President Barack Obama is targeting Senators in his own political party with television ads, urging these skeptical Democrats to embrace health care reform legislation that could put them in a political bind at home.

The television spot was announced Wednesday morning by Organizing for America, the successor organization to Obama’s presidential campaign apparatus now run out of the Democratic National Committee.

In other words, Pinocchiobama wants to be the one beating up his own senators while independent left-wing groups target the Republicans.

There is something demented about the leader of the Democratic Party going after Democratic senators up for re-election next year. It’s like Obama is so insistent on socializing healthcare he is willing, strategically, to lose control of Congress knowing once it is passed it won’t be undone.

But are members of his party willing to do that?

That’s the word that the Washington Post used, so don’t blame me (H/T: Glenn Reynolds):

Obama’s Machine Sputters in Effort to Push Budget
Grass-Roots Campaign Has Little Effect

When his post-campaign organization was unveiled in January, Barack Obama vowed that the 13 million-strong grass-roots network built during his presidential campaign would play a “crucial role” in enacting his agenda from the White House.

But in its first big test, the group dubbed Organizing for America (OFA) had little obvious impact on the debate over President Obama’s budget, which passed Congress on Thursday with no Republican support and a splintering of votes among conservative Democrats. The capstone of the campaign was the delivery of 214,000 signatures to Capitol Hill, which swayed few, if any, members of Congress, according to legislative aides from both parties.

Read More →

Fresh from their general campaign last Saturday of utterly failing to convincing Congress to do anything, Organizing for America is now engaged in regional spamming of their email lists to go after of individual legislators considered either hostile or insufficiently favorable to the President’s plan to saddle the next three generations with even more crushing, unnecessary debt. This is primarily targeting Republicans: in fact, based on admittedly extremely limited communications with other people who might get spammed, I’m concluding OFA is not generically targeting Democrats. But they did go after Evan Bayh:

OFA sent an email to Indiana residents on Wednesday asking them to phone Republican Rep. Steve Buyer, Republican Sen. Richard Lugar and Democratic Sen. Bayh to let them “know where you stand on President Obama’s budget.”

Bayh has been one of the Democratic party’s most outspoken members against President Obama’s spending, penning recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal to outline his opposition to the $410 billion omnibus bill the Obama signed. He also announced he leading a 15-member working group of moderate Senate Democrats last week. Bayh said the group was informally called “the practical caucus.”

Bayh, of course, is hated by progressives - it’s one of his more endearing traits, really - and he’s certainly been on the administration’s radar since he announced his so-called “Gang of Fifteen.” While supposedly there were no public problems between the White House and the centrist Democrats over this unwillingness of the latter to blindly follow the former over the cliff*, it’s not really a secret that President Obama likes to have deniable proxies do his dirty work for him. Which is probably why Bayh is scheduled to be personally targeted by Moveon.org, Campaign for America’s Future, USAction, and the rest of the usual suspects: apostasy is always the worst of sins to the True Believer.

Speaking as a Republican, I wholeheartedly support this activity, and think that it should be encouraged. Although I think that there are limits.

Moe Lane

*Note that they might still do it anyway.

Crossposted to Moe Lane.