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What if Obama Threw an Astroturf Party and Nobody Came?

Bob Hahn’s comment to my earlier post about Organizing/Obama for America’s call for supporters to flood legislative offices in an effort to create the appearance of support for the very unpopular health overhaul proposal got me thinking. Here’s Bob’s comment:

What if nobody cares?

This is a pretty risky maneuver by the White House. If it doesn’t work — if supporters do not show up in large numbers — it will leave the Members of Congress shaken by the thought that all those angry opponents at the Town Halls are real. After all, if the Democrats can’t gin up Astroturf from their list, why should we believe that the Republicans can?

I’m not convinced that an email list of hopeychangey elect-the-first-black-guy idealists are going to be all that excited about health care. This could be an epic fail.

This got me thinking in a way I hadn’t before. Today’s Organizing/Obama for America call-for-astroturfers is telling on its own. However, what is more telling is the fact that this is the third time in the last four days OFA has sent an email to its supporters calling on them to turn out in support of President Obama’s government health care overhaul.

Let me say that again: This is the third time in four days that Barack Obama, community organizer extraordinaire, has called on his legions to turn out in support of his policies. The first of those emails was purportedly from Obama himself, calling on supporters to turn out at “thousands of events” across the country; the second and third were calls to telephone and visit, respectively, legislative offices around the nation in an effort to show support for his badly flagging health overhaul proposal.

Because these emails come with relative frequency, I didn’t fully appreciate the temporal proximity of those three emails — or what that meant — until Bob’s comment forced me to consider it. Now, though, it is clear as day: the Obama administration, and its network of paid community organizers and agitators, is growing incredibly desperate for two reasons.

First, Barack Obama and his allies are losing the organizing battle at every turn to ordinary Americans who aren’t even being directed or paid — just taking an active interest in their government’s actions!

Second, despite repeated calls to action (including a declaration by the President himself that the opportunity to shut down debate on an issue, and to out-organize ordinary American citizens, was “the moment our movement was built for”) — again, three in four days — the Great Community Organizer simply can’t get his supporters to turn out, or his astroturf in place.

One call for supporter action is ordinary (even if it is odd to have a President making that call, particularly when it is paired with an order to mobilize against another portion of the American citizenry). Two calls is a bit odd. Three in four days, though, is utter desperation.

Barack Obama and his astroturfing band of “community organizers” are losing this battle, and they are losing it despite employing every tool at their disposal, from “community organizing,” to mobilizing union thugs to physically harm dissidents, to attempting to silence political opponents by calling on Americans to turn in their fellow citizens to the government for political disagreement.

That’s one encouraging thought. The unencouraging counter to that, though, is this: what does a President whose only experience is as a community organizer, manufacturing outrage and threatening opponents with physical violence (and acting in accordance with the Chicago Way, do when all legal means at his fingertips of enacting his agenda fail? That is a question we may see answered sooner rather than later.

COMMENTS

  • desertdweller

    El Marco in Denver found out what happens.

    Hire day laborers.

    • farstar99

      Sign up, take their astroturf propaganda with you and the moment you get in the door toss, it in the circular file and tell them what you REALLY think.

      • Scope

        the idea would be to take every printed page of propaganda, and, then publish it against them. I would love to go undercover in one of the organizations, however, I would probably want to beat them into understanding what they are doing to my country. I would be the one in the pokey.

  • BlueStateSaint

    And it’s on YouTube. It’s an audio file, about 35 seconds long, where a female caller to SEIU HQ says something to the effect of, “If the SEIU thugs keep preventing people from exercising their First Amendment rights, they’re going to run square into the Second Amendment.”

    It’s coming, fellow conservatives. Courage!

    (My rep, Scott Murphy, held a “business roundtable” on Tuesday to discuss the bill–then told the public about it the next day.)

  • Robert A. Hahn

    The other thing that strikes me about this effort by the White House is that it tells us there are serious doubts about the official cover story, in which middle aged people with nothing to do hire themselves out as shills for the insurance industry.

    At this point we don’t know where the doubts are coming from (the press? Congressional Democrats?) but clearly somebody is challenging the White House to demonstrate a comparable Astroturfing effort, just to prove it can be done. If it can’t be, then we have to conclude that the Shouting Seniors™ are there under their own power, in which case Obama’s health care reform is Electoral Poison. I’m sure there’s some rule of thumb among CongressCritters to the effect that for each angry constituent who bothers to call or write, there are 500 who won’t be heard from until election day, when they vote against you.

    • penguin2

      He resorts to his Chicago style thuggery which matches to your “Stop the Madness” I’ve been appalled by how coarse and thuglike the President of the United States has sounded. That may be okay for the campaign trail, but not when in office. People are beginning to see the real community organizer.

      BTW, Bob, I did not get to your diary until today. Left you a comment.
      Also, I see your Shouting Seniors with a trademark, never heard of them. Who are they?

      • Robert A. Hahn
          Shouting Seniors with a trademark

        Oh, I just do that to indicate a ‘term of art’. I assume by now everyone has seen shouting seniors at town halls. I think they terrify CongressCritters.

  • http://www.skiloveland.com skicougar

    One. It is hard to get a lot of support for something that a person is not truly passionate about. Now, there are some people really needing the government insurance; and they have probably remained passionate; but having over 70% of America satisfied with thier insurance is not going to keep them motivated to fight for the few that a government craddle would help.
    In contrast, those 70% that like what they have; sure do have motivation to keep it.

    Two. Most people cannot keep up thier passion for long periods of time, it is two exhausting for most; so that were passionate about changing out Obama for GW last year, but not that passionate about government healthcare; have lost interest and most likely are expecting Obama to get it done now that he’s POTUS.

    Both of these are good for America.

  • JamesonLewis3rd

    insulated, sipping martinis, munching $100/lb meat—BHO doesn’t even care, so long as his SDS buddies are happy (and they are).

  • redneck_hippie

    Can’t be complacent about the unravelling Obama agenda. Once it becomes known that “they” are in the minority, we are really going to see something.

    “What it is ain’t exactly clear…it’s time to stop, now, what’s that sound…”

    Not crickets chirping.

  • Scope

    apparently meaning the violence, as seen in St. Louis, as, her comments were made after that I believe. Also, I am right now hearing a repeat of Rush playing the Sebelius and Spector townhall where they are shouted down.

    I keep thinking about how the electorate hates negative and nasty campaigns. They hate personal attacks and all the back and forth bickering. How do you think they will feel about the violence Obama and his henchmen are promoting? That will never play for him and the Libs in any positive way. And, we know that Obama keeps reverting back to campaign lecturing when he is trying to promote his disasters, such as his speech at the Deeds fundraiser in McClean VA. I know I am not the only one who had chills up my spine when he so arrogantly talked about his having to clean up, and, well he doesn’t “mind” cleaning up but, those that created the mess should just shut up. Whenever I think of Obama, I just see him with his chin in the air, looking from his right to left teleprompters, with his eyes looking down his face at us stupid peasants.

    • janis

      I cannot bear to listen to his voice or see his face. The arrogance and the anger he evinces when he is challenged are truly disturbing. How he and his compatriots in the party behave as this goes on is opening many eyes. Like you, his admonishment to people to shut up who disagree with him, left me staring in disbelief at the computer screen when I saw it on Drudge.

      Given Obama’s inability to acknowledge his mistakes and reverse course, I’m thinking this is not going to end well.

  • RealQuiet

    Majority of Americans against this bill, Obama desperate to gin up phantom support, cowardly Democratic congressmen skittering away like cockroaches at town hall meetings or wanting to have telephone town halls, union thugs assaulting average Americans. If this bill passes in the House, it could very well destroy the Democratic party long term. It could be similar to what happened back in the days of Hoover and FDR only the GOP will be the beneficiary. The only question would be is if America could recover.

  • ordi

    It seemed to me as each day has gone by Obama, the DNC, OFA, et al have escalated their call for their “troops” to combat the grassroots upraising.

    It would be interesting to see a time-line of what Obama has done each day to get the “troops” to stand at the wall. When did the first email go out, when did the first SEIU thrugs get the call? etc…

    DId they escalate each time their Obamabot “troops” failed to show up? The last escalation being call in the Union Thrugs?

    What is their next escalation?

    • The_Rebel

      will be Monday morning in USA Today, when Pelosi and Hoyer in an op-ed call the townhall protesters un-American.

      What planet are these people on? This will only inflame the passions of the Obamascare opponents. Maybe that is what they want to happen. They probably have a deal all cooked up with their MSM buddies for them to look the other way when their union thugs begin their violence.

      • redneck_hippie

        that dog won’t hunt and what kind of idiots do they take us for?

        • The_Rebel

          a full scale assault on the townhall protesters by the liberal columnists, and the same from the editors of the NY slimes and Washington compost, etc.

      • izoneguy

        Look at this info from Open Secrets….

        These dems have raked in the most cash from union contributions.

        Hoyer tops the list with $3,596,358
        Edward Kennedy is 2nd with $2,741,591
        Pelosi is 3rd with $2,737,550

        Unions Lobby to Thwart Health Care Deal Breaker

        http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2009/07/unions-lobby-to-thwart-health.html

        Download a list of contributions from labor PACs to all current members of Congress (including to their candidate committees and leadership PACs) since 1989 here:

        http://www.opensecrets.org/news/LaborPAC_Contribs.xls

        If you use this info give credit:
        http://www.opensecrets.org/MyOS/credit.php

        Just counter Pelosi and Hoyer un-American accusations with these facts. National Health Care is a Union Trojan Horse…..
        The unions will use their tax free insurance status as a recruiting tool if National Health Care is set in place.

      • izoneguy

        Here it is:

        http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/08/unamerican-attacks-cant-derail-health-care-debate-.html

        “This month, despite the disruptions, members of Congress will listen to their constituents back home and explain reform legislation. We are confident that our principles of affordable, quality health care will stand up to any and all critics.”

        Huh? Many democrats are going into hiding….many democrats are having closed door meetings – That is un-American…
        The CBO already said the numbers don’t make sense.
        Hoyer & Pelosi are idiots and must be shown the folly of their words.

  • hunter

    and real grass.
    I think sending envelopes with a nice handfull of grass, along with a respectful note pointing out that grass is not astroturf, could be a lot of fun, and would certainly get their attention.
    The other idea is to call up the WH switchboard, and offer to turn ourselves in as agitators.

    • http://www.suvstrategery.blogspot.com SoFiMil

      I know your idea is all in fun and not necessarily literal, but in this age of bio-terrorism I would counsel people not to do this.

  • Robert A. Hahn
      sending envelopes with a nice handfull of grass

    Don’t do that. Don’t send envelopes with any “mysterious substances” to CongressCritters. They don’t get the stuff, and it fouls up the Post Office. Send postcards. Maybe a nice picture of grass.

    • http://www.suvstrategery.blogspot.com SoFiMil

      You beat me by over 4 hours.

  • Bobcat51

    is he now ?

    When a sitting POTUS (TOTUS) calls for Union thugs to turn on a genuine section of concerned voters to promote his own unpalatble agenda is one to draw the conclusion that after 200 days Obama’s Presidency is over (Lame Duck )?

    The POTUS(TOTUS) swore an oath to protect the Constitution and the American people and has failed miserably with his introduction of Chicago thuggery to the rest of America.

    Obama may have bitten of more than he can chew and should have stuck with his $100 steaks , The people of this great country have now stirred after seeing through the man who sat in a church for 20 years and heard nothing!

    Obama better get the wax out of his ears because the noise is going to get a lot louder and 2010 will be a lot worse than 94 !

  • http://janicecantore.com Janice Cantore

    Adam Schiff is having a townhall on tuesday, his website says that there will be a panel of prominant lefties there to support Obamacare because Shiff wants health care reform with a STRONG public option. Someone on this site called Shiff a blue dog, but he is as radical as Waxman, just look at his site, there is no question he is voting for this bill no matter what is said at the town hall. His district is where my parents live. They take voting seiously, but will only vote for democrats. I plan on attending the townhall, not only to see for myself the mood in this district which is loaded with Obama/Biden bumper stickers, but to ask informed questions myself. However, I expect strong hired thug presence, and strong union thug presence.
    I pray I can convince my parents not to vote for this moron ever again.

  • burbmom

    Sunday at 11, OFA was supposed to meet at our capitol to rally for Healthcare reform. Seemed like 1000 people attended to OPPOSE Healthcare reform and the other guys didn’t even show up! It was a great event. We recited The Pledge of Allegiance and talked with like minded individuals. In Austin, Tx, that’s a novelty. But, like I said we were there until 12:45 and never encountered anyone from OFA.