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In an effort to harness the grassroots support he has continued to cultivate while in office, President Obama today called on his backers to "step up once again" and help encourage support of his comprehensive health care reform.

The president sent an email to members of Organizing for America asking them to speak out in favor of reform while members of Congress are at home, away from the influence of lobbyists.

During the August recess, Organizing for America will be sponsoring multiple events focused on clearing up what the group considers the myths of the health reform debate. In the email, Mr. Obama asks each supporter to pledge to attend at least one of these events to "reach out to neighbors, show your support, and make certain your members of Congress know that you're counting on them to act."

"There are those who profit from the status quo, or see this debate as a political game, and they will stop at nothing to block reform," the president writes. "We've got to get out there, fight lies with truth, and set the record straight."

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As Democrats in Congress are gaining momentum crafting health care legislation, President Obama's political arm in the Democratic National Committee is stepping up its own push for reform with a new ad.

The group Organizing for America begins airing a new television ad today in Washington and eight critical states represented by conservative Democrats and moderate Republicans: Arkansas, Indiana, Florida, Louisiana, Maine, North Dakota, Nebraska and Ohio.

The 30-second spot features five people facing hardship because of insufficient health insurance coverage. It ends with the message, "It's time for health care reform." It urges viewers to visit Healthcare.BarackObama.com.


The ad begins as Democrats from both branches of Congress are boasting progress on their legislation. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee today passed its version of reform by a vote of 13 to 10. Meanwhile, the House yesterday introduced its own bill. Both bills mandate all Americans acquire health insurance, set up subsidies for those who cannot afford coverage, mandate employer participation and establish a government-sponsored insurance plan.

The House bill includes tax increases for families earning more than $350,000 a year and a tax of up to 5.4 percent of income for those earning more than $1 million a year.

President Obama's political group Organizing for America is raising money to run nationwide television ads featuring Americans telling their health care stories.

In an e-mail sent to supporters on Tuesday evening asking for donations, the group pitches the ads as a modern-day answer to the effective 1990's "Harry and Louise" ad. That commercial, which featured a fictional couple sitting at their kitchen table discussing their concerns with health care reform, had a hand in killing President Clinton's attempt at reform in the 1990's.

"Just imagine if this time around, the debate is shaped by real people, looking us in the eye, telling their actual story, and asking for our help to fix this broken system," says the e-mail, signed by Organizing for America Director Mitch Stewart. "Phony stories helped defeat health care reform in the past. But this time, real stories could be the reason we win."

The proposed ads would amplify the stories told on the group's Web site via the Health Care Stories For America database. Featuring hundreds of thousands of stories about American citizens and businesses that have been burdened by rising health care costs, the database is searchable by location and invites visitors to input their own stories.

The e-mail says airing the stories nationally could be a "breakthrough moment in this debate, when millions of Americans realize how urgent reform really is."