North Dakota Liberals Parternering ACORN/Union-Backed National Group For Health Care Astroturf Event

One of the most annoying and inaccurate talking points liberals have deployed against tea party/town hall protesters is that the grassroots movement is nothing but astroturf. They claim that the protesters are illegitimate because they’re all just in the thrall of paid political operatives. Nothing could be further from the truth, of course, but it is interesting to see them organizing events of their own using the very same “astroturf” tactics they accuse conservatives of.
To wit, I was forwarded an email this evening from a concerned party which indicates several liberal interests in the state are banding together to hold a pro-Obamacare rally in Fargo on August 29th at the Fargo Dome. The email referred to a conference call, and my good buddy Scott Hennen actually called in to the call and listened to it. An outline of the call was attached to the email, and you can download it and read it by clicking here.
Here are some interesting things to note about the outline for this conference call (linked above):
Note how under the “turnout” heading the various groups involved are assigned numbers of people to get out. They plan is for the entire rally to be about 1,000 people, with each group assigned with bringing a certain portion of that overall number. That’s not exactly a grassroots event like the tea parties in North Dakota have been where the event is advertised and interested people just show up.
Note also under the transportation section how they’re talking about a bus to bring people from Bismarck to Fargo for the event. The outline states that the bus will be paid for by the SEIU. Again, not exactly grassroots no?
The group organizing the even this called Health Care for America Now. Here’s a listing of all the groups sponsoring the effort:

ACORN, AFL-CIO, AFSCME, AFT, Americans United for Change, Campaign for America’s Future, Center for American Progress Action Fund, Campaign for Community Change, Children’s Defense Fund Action Council, Communications Workers of America, International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW), MoveOn.org, NAACP, National Council of La Raza, National Education Association, National Women’s Law Center, SEIU, UFCW, USAction, Women’s Voices, Women’s Vote and Working America.

ACORN? The SEIU? Not exactly grassroots. What’s also interesting are the people this email organizing the conference call was sent to. It was sent out by Don Morrison of NDPeople.org, which isn’t very surprising, but some of the other names in the mail are interesting as well. Here’s the email:

From: Don Morrison [mailto:don@ndpeople.org]
Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2009 3:32 PM
To: ‘Janis’; ‘Halvorson, Lyle’; ‘Kro, Marlowe’; lwurtz@aarp.prg; ‘David Kemnitz’; ‘Theboyds’; ‘Reneepf’; saint55@cableone.net; ‘Mfroemke1′; ‘Alexandra Townsend’; sseeberg@afscme.org; ‘Childrens Caucus’; ‘Norma Bourland’; ‘Koppel’; fvnd@drtel.net; missi.baranko@gmail.com; ‘Joann Brager’; ndkidscount@yahoo.com; ‘Paul Ronningen’; ‘Jim Moench’; ‘Jesse Hegland’; ‘Wanda Rose’; ‘Renee Stromme’; ‘Greg Burns’; ‘Josh Askvig’; dakota.draper@ndea.org; ‘Gisele’; stuart@ndpea.org; Antonson, Pete; ‘Mary Theurer’; johnmoore37@gmail.com; ‘Kpulvermacher’; ‘Mhutson’; gbarnes8366@msn.com; ‘Don’; ‘Wade Schemmel’; ‘Dr. Twogood’; ajacobson@ppmns.org; ‘Ryan Nagle’; ‘Socialjustice’; clongfeather@uttc.edu; sbaker@uttc.edu
Subject: HCAN Fargo rally – updated organizing notes for today’s meeting
Attached are updated notes for our call at 4:00 today. I tried to update as much as I remember. Help add anything in the works that I forgot.
The Call in number is 1-888-387-8686 Code is 6561501
Thanks!
Don
–
Don Morrison
NDPeople.org
410 E Thayer Ave, Suite 2
Bismarck ND 58501
(w) 701-224-8090
(c) 701-527-0060
don@ndpeople.org

Here’s a list of who some of those people are:
Lyle Halvorson: Communications Director for AARP North Dakota in Bismarck. What’s that? You thought AARP wasn’t really backing Obamacare? Well apparently Lyle didn’t get the message.
Linda Wurtz: Associate State Director for AARP North Dakota in Bismarck. Another AARP employee who didn’t get the memo from the national group.
Marlow Kro: Associate State Director for AARP North Dakota in Bismarck. Man, the Bismarck AARP chapter really needs to check the fax machine or something.
David Kemnitz: AFL/CIO North Dakota
Josh Askvig: North Dakota Education Association (teacher’s union)
Dakota Draper: North Dakota Education Association President
Greg Burns: NDEA Executive Director
Ryan Nagle: SEIU North Dakota
Wade Schemmel:United Church for Christ
Renee Stromme: The League of Women Voters, a supposedly non-partisan organization
Of particular interest there are the AARP and NDEA people. I wonder if the teachers who are paying their union dues, or the people who are paying their AARP memberships, know that their dues are going to support President Obama’s policies? Maybe some of them would be ok with it, but I’m guessing a good chunk of both constituencies wouldn’t be at all. Particularly the AARP’s constituency.
I called Lyle Halvorson, communications director for AARP North Dakota, about this conference call today. He denies that anyone from AARP North Dakota was on the call, but admits that AARP has been communicating with these other groups.
Now, to be clear, I don’t have a problem with any of these groups doing any of this. Hey, it’s a free country, and this is how democracy works. But I don’t think they should be honest and forthright about their involvement in this sort of advocacy (I don’t think that the NDEA or AARP are being honest in such a way). And I think that North Dakotans deserve to know that, after all the flak the tea party and town hall protesters have taken for being “astroturfers,” this event is being organized by ACORN, the SEIU and other liberal interests.
Frankly, I think we need some people standing outside this event and respectfully reminding spectators and attendees with signs just who organized this event, and how it was organized.