guerilla congress

Worth going if you are in DC. -Patrick

MoveOn.org Counter-Rally!
 
MoveOn.org is planning a rally at the Capitol at 4:00 PM to steal media from the ongoing Republican "Guerilla Congress".
 
While the GOP is demanding a vote on offshore drilling, Democrats and MoveOn.org are frantically wave their arms trying to change the subject...
 
WE CAN'T LET THEM!
RALLY WITH US AT 5:00 PM!
 
Details
 
When: 4:45 PM
Where: Grant Memorial on the Mall, 1st Street between Penn Ave and Maryland Ave.
Why: To show America there is more support for drilling more oil
 
More Info: Call (202) 608-1411 or (720) 839-0130

The return of the Guerilla Congress today was a huge encouragement and it is really exciting to see what the House GOP can do when it sets its mind to it. The Dontgo movement is growing minute-by-minute and people want Congress to return to work and pass the American Energy Act.

Everybody is taking leadership in his or her own way. We've got Danny Glover and Jason Carini working on media distribution channels, Media Lizzy and Jenn Sierra promoting the events on internet talk radio, Robert Bluey and Reps. Culbertson and Wittman twittering from the floor, and Eric Odom setting up websites for the Dontgo movement. People are offering to drive visitors to the Hill, collecting money to buy food for Members, and creating promotional flyers, all on their own.

This is possible because a large group of people have been inspired by the Guerilla Congress and it touches on themes that all of us recognize. This event, at least for me, reminds me of why I became a Republican in the first place. Transparency, smart usage of modern technology, principled free market policies, and the thrill of fighting the establishment is what the Republican Revolution was all about.

Over the past two days, many people have worked to build an alternative to the MSM to get media from the floor out to the general public. However, as the phantom sessions gain more attention, it will become harder and harder to smuggle media out of the House chamber. What we need to focus on now as a movement is how to bring the American people into their House.

We can pump tweets out continuously and get some precious video or audio out from time to time to maintain page A13 attention, but we need crowds of energized Americans clamoring for change in the Capitol to take things to the next level. Right now, the MSM is dismissing the Guerilla Congress as a GOP stunt, but that will be much harder to do if there are long lines of excited and angry people waiting to get into the chamber specifically to take part in the phantom sessions. I know from experience that constituents are usually bored and disappointed when visiting the House gallery - if they are engaged and excited, that is a news story in itself.

We can make this happen. During the summer, a flood of people drive to Washington for vacation and take exhausted kids around the Mall in the humidity and heat, trying to show them the monuments and teach them about American democracy. They have just driven hundreds of miles and spent large amounts of money on gas - more than most other Americans would. They are almost the ideal target audience for the shadow sessions, and they have every right to be mad that the Dems skipped town for a vacation of their own when their vacations are cut short or made less enjoyable because of the price of gas.

If we build on this foundation, and add in the opportunity to spend time inside with the AC and let their kids go on the House floor while it is in a pseudo-session to interact with 20-30 members, we can probably draw people in. What we need to figure out is how to frame it, publicize it to tourists and do it right. It's an opportunity we can't afford to pass up.

Figures - President Bush denies House GOP special session.

I doubt this will have any affect on the House GOP leaders who are continuing their efforts this week from the House floor, but it is somewhat disheartening. The White House claims that there is no point in calling Congress back into session for a bill that the Democrats won't allow an up-down vote on.

The White House is wrong.

The point would be to force televised debate on an issue and shine a light on Pelosi's roadblocking. The point would be to support conservatives in Congress when they need it most. The point would be to align this White House with conservatives and give a badly needed boost to sagging conservative confidence in the Republican Party. The point would be to gain momentum for drilling - just serious discussion about drilling has made oil prices drop slightly, putting us on the road to easing the deathgrip high gas prices have on the nation's economy.

We're fooling ourselves if we don't believe that gas prices have been one of the primary causes for economic worry. And as we enter hurricane season in full force, with tropical storms already aiming dead-on at platforms and refineries in the Gulf, we need to do everything possible to give relief before the worst befalls us once again.

Incidentally, John McCain supports bringing Congress back into session.

Mark Halperin had two interesting notes from a John McCain town hall meeting today:

1.  He said that "we have to drill here and we have to drill now," which is an obvious nod to Newt Gingrich and American Solutions.  People on this site have mentioned how we need our own MoveOn and how American Solutions might be it...

2.  He also said that Obama, "should call on Congress to return from their vacation and deal with the energy problem now," which is a nod to the Guerilla Congress that is going on as we speak.

Could this be the begining of the base being fired up and/or the closing of the pesk "enthusiasm gap?" 

More importantly, where do we take it from here?

(As a side note, it's frustrating when your party is thinking of nominating a Jewish vice-president with the name "Cantor," and you have five or six "Jazz Singer" jokes that only you find funny.)
 

Promoted. -Patrick

On Sunday, over thirty Republican Members announced that they would return to the House of Representatives to continue the Guerilla Congress's phantom sessions. Members will continue to discuss the need for an 'all of the above' energy plan with visitors, and keep the pressure on the Democrats to reconvene the House and allow a vote on offshore drilling.

The session is expected to begin around 10 AM Eastern. Twitter users on the #dontgo feed and members of the Facebook group, 'Rock the House! I Support the Guerilla Congress' have organized to capture video, audio and images from the event and distribute it throughout the web and to the MSM.

Those who are stepping up to get footage from the event are coordinating on #rth, and Eyeblast.tv has offered to promote any media uploaded to the website. If you plan to report from the event, be sure to stick to #rth and upload to Eyeblast.tv. From there, we will need the conservative netroots to alert the media about the Eyeblast content and promote it as much as possible.

Be sure to follow http://dontgo.us and Rock the House for continuing developments tomorrow.

On Friday, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives voted to adjourn after Speaker Nancy Pelosi blocked Republican efforts to include a provision for expanded domestic drilling in energy legislation. All 199 Republicans voted against adjournment while enough Democrats voted for adjournment for the motion to pass by one vote.

In response to Democratic refusals to create a truly comprehensive energy solution that includes provisions for domestic oil production and expanded use of nuclear power, 22 Republican members remained on the House floor after the lights and cameras had been turned off to demand that Congress return to work. While many Americans can't afford to fill their gas tanks for summer trips, House Democrats voted to ignore efforts to ensure energy independence to go on vacation.

The 'phantom session' held by Republicans after adjournment allowed GOP members to talk with visitors and bring them to the floor while highlighting the Democrats' refusals to put every viable option in the energy bill. After broadcasting information on the phantom session using cell phones and Twitter, the GOP scored a PR coup. Some members are considering returning during the summer to keep the pressure on the Democrats and force Congress to reconvene so that the House can pass a real energy solution for America.

We should hold the House accountable for every day spent without passage of a comprehensive energy bill, and there should be a Republican member on the House floor every day talking with the American people about the need for Congress to get back to work.