8/4: Targeting Townhalls

Yesterday we noted that righty bloggers were excited about the latest tactics being employed by conservative activists, who are attending Dem congressmen's townhalls and asking them aggressive questions about health care reform. Now lefty bloggers are pushing back, arguing that these protests constitute a top-down campaign rather than an authentic grassroots uprising.

However, some liberal bloggers argue that it doesn't matter who's behind these townhall protests. The bottom line, they say, is that conservative activists appear to be outworking their liberal counterparts. "Folks can whine on endlessly about outfits like Freedom Works putting these rackets together," Josh Marshall writes. "But if the president's plan has any public support they should be able to get supporters to these events too, right?"

Greg Sargent agrees and points his finger at Organizing For America, the DNC-housed political operation that emerged from Pres. Obama's WH campaign. "OFA is supposed to be doing exactly what the right is now doing: Staging very visible displays of passionate support for their side's goal -- i.e., health care reform," Sargent writes. "Will Obama's much-vaunted campaign operation be outworked by the Tea Baggers?"

What else is happening in the blogosphere?

• Conservative bloggers (Morrissey, Malkin, Ross, Gateway Pundit) are posting video footage of the latest Dem Reps. to be heckled at their townhall events: Steve Driehaus (D-OH) and Steve Kagen (D-WI).
• Most conservative bloggers (Mirengoff, Hillyer, hogan) are praising Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) for opposing the confirmation of SCOTUS nominee Sonia Sotomayor, although Allahpundit is confused by McCain's decision.
• Following Liz Cheney's well-received speech at the RedState gathering in Atlanta, Allahpundit wonders whether Cheney is "ingratiating herself with the rightroots ahead of a possible congressional run."
• Influential liberal blogger Chris Bowers has announced that he will be working for Rep. Joe Sestak's (D-PA) Senate campaign.
• Liberal bloggers (Greenwald, digby, Sirota, DougJ) are buzzing about reports that G.E. interfered in the editorial content of Keith Olbermann's MSNBC show (Olbermann denies the allegations).

HEALTH CARE REFORM: Intimidation Tactics?

Liberal bloggers are criticizing the tactics being employed by conservative activists who are attending Dems' townhall events:

• AMERICAblog's Joe Sudbay: "So, what the GOP can't win at the ballot box, they intend to win by intimidation tactics?"
• Oliver Willis: "Tea party nutters are creating mob events at congressional townhall meetings that make those Code Pink demonstrators look like a senior citizen's social. We elected a black president, the right lost their minds."
• The Reality-Based Community's Mark Kleiman: "I didn't approve of Weimar politics when it was being practiced by the anti-war left, and I still don't approve of it when it's practiced from the right. Asking a rude question at an open meeting is fine; disrupting a meeting for the purpose of preventing people from talking to one another is not. If reporters were less gullible or more interested in informing than in entertaining, they would report the story as 'lunatics interfere with democratic process' rather than 'citizens oppose health care reform.' And they might want to ask some questions about whether the same astroturf lobbying firms that are writing forged letters to Congressmen are also involved in organizing the disruptions."
• The Washington Monthly's Steve Benen: "If you put aside civility, decency, American political traditions, and intellectual honesty, the right-wing harassment strategy makes quite a bit of sense. It's a straightforward idea -- corporate interests, which have a financial stake in killing health care reform, organize far-right fanatics to disrupt public events and discussions, and create the appearance of widespread opposition."

Conservative bloggers are defending these protesters:

• AmSpec Blog's Philip Klein: "The liberal effort to discredit American citizens who are expressing their views on an issue of vital importance is completely without merit, but it is instructive. It tells us that liberals know that despite their tremendous advantages in terms of resources and power in Washington, they are losing the health care messaging war. It's becoming clear that Americans are not ready for a government takeover of the health care system, and they aren’t going to sit by idly while Democrats ram it down their throats."
• Commentary's Jennifer Rubin: "I think this is called community-organizing. But the Obama spinners are beside themselves. Greg Sargent demands to know if Republicans approve of 'loud and angry mob hecklings.' Yes, this is democracy in all its messy glory -- holding legislators accountable, demanding to know why they haven't read legislation they are voting on, and asking impertinent questions. Next thing you know they will be marching, signing petitions, and running for office. The horror of it all."
• RedState's Erick Erickson: "The rich irony here is that the party that chose a community organizer as President cannot handle communities of people organizing and protesting the destruction of their way of life. The protestors must be bought and paid for by lobbyists -- it is the only explanation. The Democrats, like the reporter who knew [Richard] Nixon would lose because no one she knew voted for him, will find out just how wrong they are at the ballot box."

HEALTH CARE REFORM II: So What If It's Astroturfing? It Works!

While many liberal bloggers are complaining about the right's "intimidation tactics," others argue that liberal activists are simply being outworked by their conservative counterparts:

• TPM's Marshall: "Folks can whine on endlessly about outfits like Freedom Works putting these rackets together. But if the president's plan has any public support they should be able to get supporters to these events too, right? Not to pull the Black Shirt routine but to provide some public demonstration that there's real public support for making reform a reality. If there is. So that's the question. Where's the other team?"
• The Washington Post's Sargent: "OFA is supposed to be doing exactly what the right is now doing: Staging very visible displays of passionate support for their side's goal -- i.e., health care reform. I don't know if OFA is succeeding or not. If so, its successes are decidedly less visible than what we're seeing from the anti-reform forces, though this could reflect the fact that OFA events don't emply the raucus agitprop we're seeing from anti-reform crowds. But OFA's activities, and those of the Democratic Party in general, are suddenly are much more important, now that there appears to be a very deliberate right-wing effort under way to create the impression of populist opposition to reform. It's yet another reminder that health care is the ultimate test of whether Obama's vaunted campaign operation can drive Obama's legislative agenda and achieve real results. Will Obama's much-vaunted campaign operation be outworked by the Tea Baggers?"

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Why The Right Will "Win" The Recess

NRO's Jim Geraghty:

"Marc Ambinder is helpfully Tweeting, 'Wrong q: whether or left or right will "win" the recess health care organizing. Right q: will right's win be genuine or artificial or both?' Interesting that the right's win is perceived as a fait accompli. (Rest assured, grassroots conservatives, that if you are active and your message is heard by nervous lawmakers, your victory in persuasion with be dismissed as 'artificial.' Or at least not organic, or not gluten-free or something.)

I would note that the Democrats aren't going into the August with the lead; they need to move public opinion in their direction. We're seeing a few efforts on that front. First there is a sudden Orwellian insistence that this is 'health insurance reform'; please ignore the past two and a half years of references to 'health care reform.' We're going to see this reaction at these town hall meetings dismissed as 'Astroturf.' And we're going to see relentless demonization of health insurers.

But I'm not sure 'aren't insurance companies terrible?' persuades Americans who are skeptical or nervous about ObamaCare. Yes, many voters have gripes with the current system, but they're doubtful that any of the five versions of the legislation before Congress will improve things. If, indeed, the constituent meetings become a series of deer-in-the-headlights lawmakers running from masses immune to the usual spin and talking points, then it's hard to see Democrats returning in September with more votes than when they left."

LEST WE FORGET: Lost In Translation

From Overheard in the Office:

Product development guy: I just got an e-mail in Chinese... What do I do?
Product development gal: Just copy/paste it into Microsoft Word and change the font.
Product development guy: It's Chinese, not Wingdings.