Aug 7 2009
President Barack Obama is asking supporters of health overhaul proposals to show up at rallies, knock on doors and participate in community events.
The Washington Times reports that in a Wednesday email message "to the more than 13 million supporters of his campaign group, Organizing for America," Obama said, "these canvasses, town halls and gatherings only make a difference if you turn up to knock on doors, share your views and show your support. … So here's what I need from you: Can you commit to join at least one event in your community this month?" The action "comes one day after the White House and Democrats in Washington denounced protesters at health care town hall forums across the country as the work of the Republican Party and its lobbyist allies" (Ward, 8/6).
Politico has the full text of Obama's email message (Allen, 8/5).
US News and World Report adds that "White House officials say Obama's adversaries are using distortion, deception, and intimidation in an effort to scare key constituencies, including the elderly, into opposing Democratic legislation on healthcare." White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told U.S. News, "we live in an environment where people see information from a lot of different sources and they see a lot of misinformation. … When you see misinformation pop up, you've got to address it or risk having people believe what is not true" (Walsh, 8/5).
On Tuesday, Obama will visit a New Hampshire town hall meeting, according to The Associated Press/The Boston Globe. "This is Obama's first visit to New Hampshire since becoming president. He was last in the state campaigning for office in October" (8/5).
 This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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