Astroturfing is one of those Washington phenomenon that’s so ingrained in the political culture that the inherent fraud built into it no longer merits much attention. But those forged letters sent to members of Congress purporting to be from groups opposing global warming legislation have helped shine a bright light in this dark corner. From watching the roaches scurry for cover, we’ve been able to learn a bit more about how these operations work. Think: white collar sweatshop.
Senate Republicans won’t stand in the way of an extension of the Cash for Clunkers program. That and the day’s other political news in the TPMDC Morning Roundup.
First, thanks to all of you who’ve sent in first hand accounts, video and links to press write-ups of incidents at townhalls around the country. We’re going to be rolling out a August Health Care Ground War Wire shortly. This is just a note to ask you to keep the tips coming.
And to be clear, we want everything. We’re particularly interested in the disruptions, turnout, all the Tea Shirt craziness we’ve been reporting on the last couple days. But we’re just as interested in the mundane stuff. Turnout. Which side seemed to be most represented at different meetings. The whole picture. Details, details, details …
Laura Ling’s emotional press conference after touching down on U.S. soil. Watch.
Reformers lay out strategy for dealing with town hall disrupting anti-reform teabaggers. Read the memo.
We’ve set up a live wire for coverage of all of the developments in the health care reform battle. The Health Care Ground Game Wire automatically refreshes so you can get all of the latest news in one place. We’ve also embedded it in the front page news section to the right, so you can check out the most recent town hall disruptions, new ads, dueling press releases, etc, there, too.
House Dems hold conference call to discuss — inter alia — strategies to counter teabag incursions.
Chuck Todd getting on the Ambinder Social Security battle revisionism train?
TPM Reader JB sends in this clip from MSNBC’s First Read from this morning …
“If you’re a reporter who covered politics back in 2005, you know this pretty well: Brad Woodhouse and Americans United (funded by organized labor) helped defeat Bush’s Social Security reform. They organized protests, ran TV ads, and held town halls to get members of Congress on the record on Social Security. All of which seems ironic now that Woodhouse — the current communications director at Obama’s DNC — issued a statement yesterday denouncing the conservative “mobs” at Dem town halls. “Republicans and their allied groups … are inciting angry mobs of a small number of rabid right wing extremists funded by K Street lobbyists to disrupt thoughtful discussions about the future of health care in America taking place in congressional districts across the country,” he said. And now the DNC has upped the ante, producing a Web video, entitled “Enough of the Mob,” that conflates these protests with the so-called “birthers.””
I’ll give Todd half a loaf on this one. The Social Security supporters who showed up at Bush townhall meetings and those held by Republicans and wavering Dems in 2005 didn’t show up for ‘thoughtful discussion’, to put it mildly. They knew exactly what they thought. They were trying to make the opposition to privatization very clear, make their voices heard, etc. And most specifically they were trying to pin members down on just what their position was because most wanted to fly under the radar and didn’t want to face the full public exposure of their willingness to phase out the program. Read More