Tea Party Groups Target Lawmakers on Debt Ceiling

Tea Party groups across the country seek to parlay the debt limit crisis into a reprise of the healthcare forums that marked the summer of 2009, according to a USATODAY report .

Tea party activists will be targeting 21 Democrats — mostly moderate-to-conservative members in swing districts. Beginning Thursday, tea party supporters will charge local congressional offices — urging members to vote against any debt-limit increase, unless it keeps a check on new taxes and includes a balanced-budget amendment.

"We're trying to make sure guys on the fence know that they'd rather talk to us now than see us at a town-hall meeting in August," says Adam Brandon of FreedomWorks, a Tea Party umbrella organization coordinating the effort.