A New "Silent Majority?"

Back in Nixon's day, it referred to a group that, well, didn't really exist. Now, with the health care debate going into it's next phase, the term may represent those who are either passionate yet preoccupied or who are available yet apathetic.

...Or neither; at this point it's hard to say:

While opponents of the health care revamp have largely controlled the image war with rowdy town halls and a huge march on Washington last month, Obama supporters have been mobilizing across the country as well, tapping into the unprecedented network his presidential campaign built last year.

"We're building a long-term organization with leaders in the community who are trained. It was successful in the election and it will be successful again," says Jeremy Bird, deputy director of Organizing for America.

OFA, the pro-Obama effort annexed to the Democratic National Committee, says it has enlisted more than 2 million people in active support of the plan since the beginning of the summer. It recently completed a 19-stop cross country bus tour, and leaders say they have held over 18,000 health care events in all 50 states and 435 congressional districts.

The intensity of such efforts is difficult to gauge, particularly when compared to the angry town hall meetings across the country over the summer and the "tea party" march that drew tens of thousands to Washington. A flood of questions at one recent OFA meeting in New York suggested it's far easier to ramp up the campaign to defeat the plan, even if proponents are turning out in the large numbers OFA claims.