President Obama To Rally Grassroots Troops On Health Care Tuesday

President Barack Obama
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President Obama will rally grassroots Organizing for America volunteers next week with the goal of making 100,000 calls to Congress in support of health care.

TPMDC has learned that while on political travel in New York Tuesday, Obama will join his most active supporters via Webcast into hundreds of “Time to Deliver” house parties arranged by OFA, the spinoff of his presidential campaign housed at the DNC.

The parties are easy, OFA explains: “If you can print out some call sheets and info about the president’s plan – and make sure volunteers have a comfortable place to sit — you can host a successful call party.”

The president, who has relied on his campaign supporters to help pass legislation and during hearings for his Supreme Court nominee, will participate in the parties to pump everyone up for a final push.

A Democratic source told TPMDC that Obama will ask volunteers to call Congress to support health care and tell them, “It’s up to you to close the deal.” He’ll also reprise the talking point from the last few days that it’s historic and this is the farthest Congress has ever come in the health care fight.

The OFA signup page says Obama will “encourage” the partiers and thank them for what they’ve done so far.

On Sunday OFA asked its most active volunteers and supporters to host a call party, using this new graphic.

Here’s Sunday’s OFA email, which included a “donate” link:

After months of negotiations, the entire House and Senate will soon start debating the final plans for health insurance reform. You’ve called your representatives, but we can’t stop there — if the American people are going to drown out the D.C. lobbyists, we need everyone who supports reform to weigh in. So here’s the plan:

On Tuesday, October 20th, OFA volunteers will gather at “Time to Deliver” Call Parties in living rooms like yours across the country. We’ll call friendly voters whose voices matter in this debate, talk to them about the President’s plan, and ask them to call on their representatives to support reform.

Our goal? 100,000 calls to Congress placed or committed to in a single day. It’s an ambitious goal, but the stakes couldn’t be higher — and if we hit it, we cannot be ignored.

The whole plan begins by finding a place for OFA volunteers to gather — in your area and across the country. And that’s why I’m turning to you.

Can you host a Time to Deliver Call Party on Tuesday, October 20th?

Hosting a call party is surprisingly easy. No special experience required, and we’ll provide simple step-by-step instructions. If you can print out some call sheets and info about the President’s plan — and make sure volunteers have a comfortable place to sit — you can host a successful Call Party.

You can invite your friends, we’ll invite other OFA supporters in your area, and together you’ll have a great time while making a huge difference.

If we can get 100,000 calls to Congress placed or committed to on a single day it will set a new OFA record — and really shake up the debate in Washington. But it won’t be easy. Everything hinges on finding volunteer leaders like you who are willing to open your doors and give supporters in your area a place to gather.

Can we count on you? Please sign up to host a Time to Deliver Call Party on October 20th.

Thanks for making it happen,

Jeremy Bird
Deputy Director
Organizing for America

Late update: Tonight’s OFA email tells volunteers the call parties “couldn’t come at a more important time.”

“The debate is about to move to the full Congress for the first time,” Mitch Stewart says in the email. “And the insurance industry lobby is throwing everything they’ve got at us to distort the issues and derail progress. Our voices must be heard.”

A snarky GOP aide writes in with an interesting point – given the size of the Obama email list (more than 13 million), doesn’t 100,000 phone calls seem like a low goal?

The aide writes: “I’m not taking anything away from the prowess of their email distribution list, but what kind of message does it send when the vast majority of their most enthusiastic fans won’t even bother to call their Congressman about their signature issue?”

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