In less than two weeks, the Congressional recess ends, and the legislative fight for real healthcare reform will be back on.
But for now, as members of Congress are in their home districts and home states, they have to come face to face with their constituents. Now is the time for a show of force - to literally take it to the streets for healthcare.
There are over 1000 events scheduled all across America where you can show up and stand up, including rallies in most major cities and many smaller ones.
And in 11 cities across the country, the OFA Healthcare Rally Bus will be driving up to make the point that Healthcare Can't Wait. So get on the bus and let's get it done.
Check it out - a photo of the Rally Bus en route to Albuquerque:
In a few hours the rally will get underway in Albuquerque - I hear they expect a big crowd so get there early. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Thursday, August 27
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
National Hispanic Cultural Center
1701 4th St. SW
Albuquerque, NM 87106
More details from the NM organizers:
Join fellow New Mexicans for Organizing for America's bus tour rally to promote meaningful health insurance reform - with a Public Option! Executive Director of OFA, Mitch Stewart, will be speaking to the crowd along with several others.
Bring your rally voices, and your positive energy, as we display support for Health Insurance Reform just before our members of Congress return to DC!
Please arrive by 6:00 PM. The rally will be in the Plaza Mayor on the Hispanic Cultural Center Campus. Plenty of parking is available on site.
The bus tour is one part of a massive escalation of the ground game on healthcare -- there will be 1000 healthcare events in the next two weeks where you can stand up and show your support. Here's what Organizing for America, HCAN and other groups are working together to produce before the end of recess:
Reform supporters are planning to hold more than 500 1000 events between Wednesday and when lawmakers return to Washington Sept. 8, ranging from neighborhood organized phone banks to professionally staffed rallies with hundreds of people.
The Democratic National Committee and its grassroots arm, Organizing for America, are helping to organize the effort along with the Health Care for America Now, a group pushing to create government-run insurance plan
.
"In these last few weeks of recess we want to demonstrate the energy, passion and commitment that the American people have to health insurance reform so that when members return after Labor Day they know that they can turn their attention to getting this done because they have the backing of the American people," said DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse.
Find one of these Let's Get It Done events in your community at my.barackobama.com
Starting this weekend and into next week you will see big healthcare rallies in New York, LA, Houston, San Francisco and lots of other places - you can get dates, times and locations every day in the Rally Report diaries being posted by fellow action diarists like casperr, kath25 and mindoca.
(Note the NYC Times Square event is scheduled on the same day as Senator Kennedy's funeral. The organizers are working to make that an appropriate tribute to his memory. But I think he would be the first to tell us "don't mourn, organize!")
Here's what the Rally Report series is about:
Every day until September 4, when our Congresspeople wrap up their work in the district and head back to DC, a group of activisty Kossacks are counting down to the deadline and telling you how to go out there and get involved!
If you do ONLY ONE THING for health care reform this summer, you need to attend a rally.
There are town halls, HCAN rallies, OFA events and more.
Follow along here.
So that brings us to OFA On the Bus - a highly visible symbol of the healthcare ground game.
And last night, in Phoenix, Arizona, over 1000 people turned out to kick off the tour. Here's the report from Dawn Teo at HuffPo:
PHOENIX, AZ -- It was 2008 all over again Wednesday night as Organizing for America (OFA), formerly Obama for America, launched their cross-country "Reform Health Care Now: Let's Get It Done Tour" from Arizona, a state that has becoming a focus of the Democratic Party.
The event had all of the trappings of a political campaign rally. Songs from Obama's 2008 presidential campaign blared from a PA system as more than a thousand Obama supporters filed in. Dozens of volunteers roved the crowd signing up new volunteers to phone bank, knock on doors, and do visibility in the street. The Obama logo and health care reform slogans were everywhere -- on the bus, on rally signs, on tee shirts, even on a dog sweater.
Here's a shot of what it looked like from the crowd in Phoenix last night:
Tomorrow the bus will arrive in Denver, CO:
Friday, August 28 from
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Tivoli Commons, Auraria Campus
900 Auraria Parkway
Denver, CO 80205
The bus will continue on to Des Moines, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Charlotte and Raleigh. We'll post info on these stops in the Rally Report as it becomes available.
For folks on Twitter you can follow along at @OFAOnTheBus