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Hundreds attend 'Indivisible' meeting Jessica Sage Friday Jan 20, 2017 at 7:40 PM Jan 20, 2017 at 7:40 PM John Darling for the Mail Tribune Some 250 people opposed to the incoming administration of Donald Trump crammed Ashland’s library and hallways Thursday evening to get down to the business of adopting the Tea Party’s playbook to relentlessly pressure the district’s Republican Congressman and resist the new president’s promise to "Make America Great Again," which they hear as a pledge to “take America backwards.” They gathered as members of a new nationwide, online force called Indivisible, a group founded by former congressional staffers seeking to adopt the best practices for making Congress listen in favor of, rather than opposing, a progressive agenda. Indivisible organizers are led here by Jessica Sage and Bret Levick, who got volunteers to head up its photography, video, writing, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram teams and reached out to a range of groups — youth, Latinos, clergy, people of color, LGBT (lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders), students and — the big missing piece for Democrats — the rural folk who went overwhelmingly for Donald Trump. That part is called the Rural Organizing Project. Focusing its effort through its website (www.facebook.com/OregonDistrict2Indivisible), Indivisible issues a “call of action” when something happens, such as a bill coming up in committee or a legislator holding a town hall. Such a call resulted in 30 members last week filling Rep. Greg Walden’s Medford office and lobbying a staff person about the Affordable Care Act, which Republicans are trying to repeal. Part of the focus, Indivisible activists said, was the search for a strong Democratic candidate to try and unseat longtime Congressman Walden in two years. “It’s such a dire emergency now. We all have to get involved,” said Sage, as she talked about how to call Congressional offices and speak to a real person, with faxing a letter being second best. Leaders handed out scripts for what to say to staffers and vowed to track every movement, vote and town hall of Walden, letting him know their wishes if he plans to vote against the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare") or for cabinet members deemed unsatisfactory. “If you can’t get through, keep calling,” said Levick, a local singer-songwriter and music producer. “Staff people tell me they’ve never seen activity (incoming calls) like this. It’s absolutely more effective to talk to a person. They do tally up the opinion.” Members were asked to contribute stories of impacts from repeal of ACA or parts of it, for use in persuading officials. Members organized to take part in a march for women’s reproductive rights and other issues starting at 10:45 a.m. Saturday from the library, ending up at the Lithia Park band shell for speeches and more organizing. Levick noted that the Indivisible movement was started soon after the election by Congressional staffers who had witnessed how the Tea Party, just after Barack Obama’s win in 2008, organized at every level, local to federal, and in 2010 helped overturn the Democratic majority in Congress, essential to the president’s plans. Democratic staffers have now written a 26-page playbook for a similar action, he said, and the local Indivisible is using it, downloading it from indivisibleguide.com. Tea Party forces, said Sage, “defeated legislation, slowed legislation and shaped the national debate, paving the way for the Republican takeover in 2010” – and that’s the model Indivisible is following. “If Walden is involved in the repeal of ACA, we will deluge him,” says Sage, a local actor. “We’re not interested in some Oklahoma Congressman. He’s elected every two years, so he’s always running. He will be our target for the next two years. He knows we’re here.” Speaking of themselves as “the resistance,” members said they were surprised and depressed election night, but find relief in taking action, stretching out into the years ahead, with focus on turning Congress blue in two years. The next meeting of Indivisible is at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29, at the Ashland library. For more information, email [email protected]. The group is open to any supportive resident of the district. John Darling is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at [email protected].