The left keeps labeling the movement on the right to oppose universal health care as Astroturf (unless they call those people racist, read this Krugman article to get a taste). Astroturf is a fake grass surface that was poplar in sports stadiums in the 1970s and 1980s. The left used the term to call the grassroots movement on the right as fake. They are clearly wrong in this description.
What is happening is a fundamental mistake. Yes, there are web sites, ran by conservative organizations, that tell people where to go, what to say, how to act to make an impact. This does not make the movement fake, it just makes the movement smart. Partisan organizations all the time try to direct their membership to take action, that is just how it is done. Usually though, their efforts yield little results because the people do not care. It is precisely because the people do care that these websites are getting traffic and they are taking the feelings offline after reading stuff online.
What Astroturf would be is if these organizations were paying the people to go to these meetings. A classic case of Astroturf is when Unions send out union members with signs to non union retail stores telling drivers not to shop there. The action is supposed to have a grassroots feel, but its really just someone getting paid to hold a sign on behalf of unions. Another case of Astroturf is when Mitt Romney was paying people to enter the Iowa straw poll.
So, when people try to label these mobs as Astroturf, don’t buy it, it’s the real thing. Democrats just don’t understand how someone could truly dislike Universal Health Care unless bought off buy special interest or being a racist who opposes all things Obama.
