Grass-roots supporters want to spread word

NEW YORK (AP) — Fired up? Ready to go? You might not know it from the way President Barack Obama’s grass-roots supporters have been largely drowned out in the raucous debate over his health-care plan.

Yes, they’re behind him, officials say — volunteering in their communities and contacting lawmakers in Congress. But some Obama organizers are calling their forces a “silent majority,” embracing Republican terminology of long ago. And if the final legislation doesn’t include a government-run plan to compete with private insurers, they may be invisible, too.

Though opponents of the health-care revamp have largely controlled the image war with rowdy town halls and a huge march on Washington last month, Obama supporters have been mobilizing across the country as well, tapping into the unprecedented network his presidential campaign built last year.

“We’re building a long-term organization with leaders in the community who are trained. It was successful in the election, and it will be successful again,” says Jeremy Bird, deputy director of Organizing for America.

OFA, the pro-Obama effort annexed to the Democratic National Committee, says it has enlisted more than 2 million people in active support of the plan since the beginning of the summer. It recently completed a 19-stop cross-country bus tour, and leaders say they have had more than 18,000 health-care events in all 50 states and 435 congressional districts.

The intensity of such efforts is difficult to gauge, particularly when compared to the angry town-hall meetings across the country over the summer and the “tea party” march that drew tens of thousands to Washington. A flood of questions at one recent OFA meeting in New York suggested it’s far easier to ramp up the campaign to defeat the plan, even if proponents are turning out in the large numbers OFA claims.

What, some in the group of 50 or so pro-Obama volunteers asked, are the specifics of the health-care bills moving through Congress? Do they all include provisions for end-of-life counseling, which led to the erroneous “death panel” accusations leveled by some Republicans?

“Where can we get the information to speak intelligently and cogently about it?” Queens resident David Dawson asked about the plan. Others complained that Obama had waffled on the federal “public option” and suggested they might not get involved in helping push for the overhaul as a result.

Organizer Geoff Berman acknowledged the concerns but urged attendees to focus on other aspects of the plan, including the central provision to keep insurers from refusing coverage because of pre-existing conditions.