Link-Love from Yesterday's Blogometer

... which does a nice job, actually, of summarizing the Pennsylvania Roots Project, and gives good "airtime" to a local blogger who definitely deserves it:

ROOTS PROJECT: Do Senators Turn In Clusters When The Netroots Contact Them?

Despite the Senate Intel Cmte's agreement with the WH on new oversight rules, the liberal netroots haven't given up pressuring cmte members to provide better oversight. Starting this a.m., they have a new project going -- PSoTD explains: "What are your guarantees, as an American, that this spying isn't abused for domestic purposes and not for national defense? What are your protections, as an American, from the government? Is a faith in big government enough? One would think that Republicans would be much more concerned about the NSA project than they are. ... I just don't understand that kind of blind trust. And if you're a Pennsylvanian, perhaps there is one Pennsylvanian that you should ask to explain why such blind trust by the citizenry is required. His name is Senator Arlen Specter." Vichy Dems: "The immediate goal: to encourage Pennsylvanians, and people with roots in Pennsylvania, to sound off about the upcoming Senate Judiciary Committee hearings concerning the NSA's unconstitutional, invasive, warrantless surveillance program."

Can anyone explain the "turn in clusters" part to me, though? Grapes, raisins, girls at a middle-school dance... Update, March 12: D'oh!! I knew the phrase was familiar, but I just couldn't place it. Both William Beutler of the Blogometer and VichyDems reader Lame Man are more awake and aware than I am: it's the wonderful line that former Vice Presidential Chief of Staff Scooter Libby used in his letter to jailed journalist Judy Miller trying to sweet-talk her into remaining mum on his role in leaking Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA agent. (Didn't work. But you gotta love felon poetry.)

And the answer is: in clusters or one-by-one, we've already proved that citizen pressure like this DOES change representatives' minds. We proved that with Diane Feinstein and Hillary Clinton during the Alito filibuster. And it definitely helps undecided politicians make up their minds, since politics is the art of finding a parade and stepping to the front of it.

The Pennsylvania Roots Project is still underway; find it here.