The Day the Republican Party Stood Tall

January 29, 2009

Yesterday was a remarkable day. I had a front row seat to watch Conservatives fully grasp the importance of technology in effecting change in Washington. Wednesday, January 28, 2009 will be remembered as the day the Republican party returned to its conservative roots.

I had the privilege of serving as the Project Servant Leader of Top Conservatives on Twitter (TCOT) Operation “Melt the Phones in DC.” What an amazing experience.

The genesis of “Melt the Phones in DC” was Rep. Michelle Bachmann’s interview with Glenn Beck on Tuesday afternoon. I was half listening to her in while chopping vegetables for supper. When she mentioned that the vote was going to be the next day, I was truly surprised. I knew it was coming soon, but didn’t expect the vote so quickly. Then Michelle asked Glenn to encourage his listeners to “melt the phones in Washington and let your congressmen know you want them to vote ‘no’.”

Melt the phones.

I liked it. So I went over to the computer in my kitchen, turned on twitter, and tweeted it. Then I tweeted it again. And again. I was getting no traction, so I sent a direct message to Mike Leahy, the founder of TCOT, asking him to join the chorus.

Within an hour, we had set up a TCOT Action Project and set up a conference call for all members. On the conference call, Mike surprised me by introducing me and asking me to explain the project. Let’s just say, I’m glad it wasn’t a video conference! To say I was nervous doesn’t cover half of it. I was, in effect, asking these hard working, busy conservatives to tilt at windmills. There was no way we could win the vote, the Democrats way out numbered us. But the prospect of holding our party together and making a stand–drawing the proverbial line in the sand–seemed really important to us.

And then it began. It was late Tuesday when we started and most congressional offices were closed. Cathy Nagle had an alternative number and tweeted that out. Then it was re-tweeted all over the place. Someone said “how about e-mail” and that order went out. Congressional in boxes started filling up. At 9:30 pm, I tweeted my personal hero, Michelle Malkin, and told her about Operation “Melt the Phones in DC”. She replied back that she would mention it.

The next morning I got up at 5 am and found out that Ms. Malkin had indeed mentioned us. She had written her nationally syndicated column and attached our link on her website. After that, there was so much activity that it was hard to monitor.

People were tweeting and e-mailing who they were calling and what the reactions were. When bad numbers were found, someone found the right number. When a Republican member was reported to be wavering, the call went out and we all leaned on him. I got direct messages from more than half a dozen people telling me they had called their representatives for the very first time. They were absolutely giddy with excitement. We were making a difference! The steady, unrelenting stream of phone calls and e-mails were having an impact on Washington.

When the final vote came, we lost. Of course we knew we would lose the vote. The whole point was to make the Democrats own this bill wholly. Not one Republican jumped ship and we drew 11 blue dog Democrats to our side. It was a complete victory.

The best part of the whole day? My kids got to watch. I have the joy of home schooling my kids and they got a terrific lesson in how our government works yesterday. They know what a “blue dog” and a “yellow dog” are, and how a bill becomes law. They saw every day, normal people raise their voices in unison and have an impact on government.

So yesterday, we did more than impact a decision made in Washington. We showed the importance of involvement in the process to the next generation. My children now know that one person, when working in conjunction with hundreds of other people, can make a difference. And that, my friends, is powerful.

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