We should be making lists:
* of things to say (talking points),
* of things not to say,
* and suggested phrases on signs.

And please! please! Have someone proof read your signs.

Doug McCaughan
(link...)

I am not sure why Democrats feel a need to join in these town-maul meetings.

It seems to give undeserved legitimacy to a group that has far more vocal power than it does political power.

But today's Palinoidal Republicans have lost most of the professionals, much of Wall Street and an increasing chunk of suburbia. What they can claim is the allegiance of the white South and the almost entirely white, non-urban parts of the Mountain West. Of the 40 Republican members of the Senate, fully half -- 20 -- come from the old Confederacy, the Civil War border states where slavery was legal or Oklahoma, which politically is an extension of Texas without Texas's racial minorities. Ten others come from the Mountain West. The rest of the nation -- that is, of course, most of the nation -- has become an ever-smaller share of Republican ranks.

Republican ideology has shrunk alongside its geography and demographics. Where once its view of the role of government ran the gamut from Rockefeller activism to Goldwater libertarianism, today the party largely adheres to the religiosity and the anti-statism of the white South.

(link...)

Why make this group seem more politically potent than it really is?

If you want to go where there's a bunch of people yelling and shouting and calling another bunch of people names, why not just go to a high school football game Friday night?

When your enemy is in the process of doing himself in don't get involved.

These people can take over town hall meetings, which before this strategy developed, the crowds would hardly fill the meeting hall, and now you want to play their game, as they continue to lose electoral support in the only games that really matter?

The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present.
President Abraham Lincoln 1862

Dang - and the chosen one's approval rating is rapidly approaching GWB's lows

these lows are due to his health care proposals - well really his lies about his proposals...

President Barack Obama's popularity has plummeted to a record low, with just 45 percent of voters now approving of his performance

(link...)

These "Recess Rallies" are being planned for all over the country on Saturday. The Knoxville Tea Party is promoting the gathering on Saturday.

The National Tea Partiers are planning a march on Washington the 12th of September. Their list of health care bill complaints is the list being spread all over the Internets and news, e.g your healtch care will be rationed, a government committee will decide your treatments and benefits, blah, blah, blah.

They are quite organized.

Doug has some great points, don't go unprepared.

Yes, Pres. Obama's ratings are slipping. And Zogby is an unreliable pollster.

But what really matters is what happens on election day, and at this point in time, there's no evidence that the GOP is growing its membership or even its appeal.

The protestors are white with white hair. That group is already well established in the Republican camp.

Sure protestors have claimed they've never been involved in politics to imply that they're "new" voters. They claim to be independents and former Obama voters as they do on C-Span and radio call-in shows. They claim they're a new force to be reckoned with in American politics.

They're not. When the Democrats start running the next campaign advertisements, they're going to have even more ammo to use against the GOP, as if 2000-2008 hadn't given them enough already. Knowledgeable Republicans see what's happening, but can't do much about it due to the death hold that the extreme interest groups have on the party. But then again, they should have seen this coming.

The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present.
President Abraham Lincoln 1862

You can find great resources at Tennessee Health Care Campaign dot org, including 'Tips on How to Deal with Angry Fringe' in the What's Hot section. If you are going Saturday, it's worth checking out.

MAKE
-R-
WORK

WATE has the story on their website here. I will be watching to see how they edited the interview they did with me as a nurse for health care reform.

I was so proud of the large number of us counter protesters. While I hear it will be reported otherwise, there were equal numbers on both sides, quite impressive for east Tennessee.

The Mrs. was there and we will try to have some photos and video and a report tomorrow.