More Town-Hall Pushback

Two more nuggets of organized pushback against the wave of conservative health care reform opponents who have swept into town-hall meetings held by Democratic lawmakers this month:

The Service Employees International Union says it's working to turn out its members at town-halls in states where it has a presence, coordinating with members of Congress to orchestrate turnout. (I mentioned earlier that the AFL-CIO will be doing that with a new, targeted campaign.) SEIU was working on town-hall turnout already, along with the rallies and phone banks it has planned across the country for recess, but conservative protests have led to a greater focus on ramping up town-hall presence specifically, in addition to the rest of the program. It's also distributing a pledge to its members, on-site at the town-halls, that they'll promote respectful discussion and listen to others' ideas (not, in other words, what a few conservative protests have sought).


And...The DCCC has set up a website (HealthCareFactCheck.com) debunking anti-reform talking points and throwing in a bit of Democratic messaging for good measure. The site uses FactCheck.org and Politifact, two independent political fact-checking organizations, to hit back at some of the more popular (and false) anti-reform arguments...it also alleges that conservative protests are Astroturfed by well-funded interest groups, which has become a main Democratic talking point against the vociferous concerns of anti-reformers raised at town-halls.