Is This Astroturfing?

"I don't want people thinking I just have a bunch of plants in here."

Who Is Astroturfing?

Email sent out encouraging people to make a visit to Evan Bayh's office:

"All this week, (Organizing for America) members like you will be stopping by local congressional offices to show our support for insurance reform. You can have a quick conversation with the local staff, tell your personal story, or even just drop off a customized flyer and say that reform matters to you," says the e-mail.

"We'll provide everything you need: the address, phone number, and open hours for the office, information about how the health care crisis affects your state for you to drop off (with the option of adding your personal story), and a step-by-step guide for your visit."

I am still waiting for my email from the organizing arm of the Republican party.

Get Paid to Protest

The White House has been talking about how people who are opposed to the health care bill have been showing up to townhall meetings are actually astroturf. Since I am unemployed, I was looking for a way to make some good money and thought this astroturfing thing sounded great.

Astroturf AND get paid for my time.

After searching, I finally found what I was looking for.

What is Astroturfing?

Astroturfing is a manufactured, coordinated "grassroots" effort made to look organic. An organic grassroot movement is created at the bottom of a movement - when like-minded people get together and lobby for or against a particular cause. An Astroturf movement is created from the top where a group of powerful people organize individuals to help sell what they want done.

So based on this, would the President and DNC sending an email to it members to encourage them to work on behalf of the President and his administration to sell his health care plan be a grassroot effort or astroturfing?

I thought protesting was used by people to protest their government. We now have a government protesting against the people. Am I the only one who finds that disturbing?

UPDATE: More on this over at Hot Air.
UPDATE II: Ace has a post about Congressmen having "virtual townhall meetings" and makes the point: That's fine if you don't mind being a "virtual" Congressman come January 2011.