In an attempt to thwart passage of President Obama’s health-care bill, an alliance of Tea Party groups plan to “take the town halls to Washington” during the next three weeks and encourage activists to travel to the capital and lobby the 60 or so Democrats who have yet to publicly announce their position on the bill.
“It is time for every Tea Party activist across the country to consider dropping everything he or she is doing and join us in the most important battle of our life time,” organizer Michael Patrick Leahy said. “We need your energy, commitment and efforts to make this succeed. We need you to consider coming to Washington during this three-week period, and if you can’t come to Washington, be part of this project in your local area.”
With Obama’s bill in flux as of recent weeks, the battle may come down to whether Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi can round up enough votes in the House.
The Nationwide Tea Party Coalition is organizing the event, which will last from March 10 to March 31 and will include activists meeting members of Congress in their offices.
Spokesman Mark Skoda, leader of the Memphis Tea Party and an organizer of the Nashville National Tea Party Convention, said the “objective is to bring thousands of constituents to D.C. to meet with their representatives, capture their comments and produce a review of those positions on a daily basis.”
“We believe that time is of the essence and the people need to understand where these representatives stand before any vote is taken,” Skoda said.