TPMDC'S Christina Bellantoni interviews Organizing for America's Executive Director Mitch Stewart and National Director Jeremy Bird and while the bulk of it, as Bellantoni admits, is relentlessly on message, there are some glimpses of how Stewart and Bird are thinking about the power of the organization -- and how to sell its story of change. There are the hard numbers, and big ones. Politico's Mike Allen recently reported that OFA has had 2.2 million volunteers rally around their pushing of Obama's health care agenda, has collected some 238,000 personal health care tales, written 155,000 letters to the editor, and on one day alone, made 315,000 calls to Congress.

But Stewart and Bird seem to be taking to the idea that the stats and metrics that were eye-catching during the campaign are likely less compelling post-election. Advancing the president's legislative agenda, which Stewart and Bird concede is their sole focus, is perhaps more a story of power, negotiations, and insider machinations. Thus, perhaps, we hear a story from Stewart and Bird about how it was local OFA allies and volunteers who played an instrumental legislative role in bringing about the surprising yes vote on health care by Louisiana Republican Anh Joseph Cao:

Organizationally, the boots-on-the-ground, Washington outsider vibe has translated into real results as well. Saturday morning, an OFA volunteer in Louisiana flagged for the team that Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA) might end up supporting health care.

The administration had been talking to Cao behind the scenes, but it was the volunteer who emailed OFA staffers to report that the Republican's office wasn't saying he was against the bill which opened the floodgates. OFA volunteers made 550 calls to the district office on Saturday in the hours before he became the lone Republican to back the bill.

Bellantoni take on the her interview with Stewart and Bird is here, and the full transcript is here. (Photo credit: Steve Rhodes)