Thousands join Bachmann rally against health care bill

Rep. Michele Bachmann says her "Super Bowl of Freedom" at the U.S. Capitol today can torpedo Democratic health care overhaul plans by enlisting "the voices of freedom."

At noon eastern timetoday , the lawn near the Capitol's West Front was crowded with thousands of protesters who chanted "kill the bill."

"Are they going to listen?" Bachmann asked the throng of cheering protesters, referring to House Democrats. "Oh, yeah, they're going to listen."

Bachmann stood at a podium that promoted the House GOP' health care plan, declaring "Health Care Freedom."

GOP members of Congress stood on the Capitol steps behind her.

Bachmann was followed by actor Jon Voight, who called his listeners "brave, concerned patriotic American citizens."

Among the signs displayed at the flag-draped rally was one demanding "Waterboard Congress" and another that said, "Vote no to government-run health care."

The Democratic National Committee was quick to mock Bachmann. "If the Republican party wants to make Michele Bachmann the voice of the party, that's more than fine with us," said spokesman Hari Sevugan, accusing her of an "extreme right-wing, rigid ideological agenda."

And Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., dismissed the idea that the GOP will be able to derail the health care bill.

"This is no time to get nervous about change," he said in an interview on MSNBC. "This is a time to embrace change."

Bachmann, the two-term Sixth District Republican, hatched the plan for what she called "a spontaneous meetup" to protest against the Democratic overhaul bill that is scheduled to be voted on Saturday.

The bill, she said this morning, is overly complex and intrusive and has been rushed through by the Democratic leadership.

She has attracted considerable attention, getting the backing of conservative activists and some GOP House leaders.

When she unveiled her planned protest, which will include confronting members of Congress in the chamber's offices, last Friday, Bachmann told conservative talk show host Sean Hannity:

"I'd love to have every one of your viewers join me so that we can go up and down through the halls, find members of Congress, look at the whites of their eyes and say, 'Don't take away my health care.' "

This morning, Bachmann called such planned confrontations "all about true democracy in action."

She also said the protesters will "remind members of the lessons of August," when protesters known as tea partiers disrupted congressional town hall meetings across the country.

In a conference call Wednesday night with bloggers and activists for the advocacy group Americans for Prosperity, Bachmann said protesters should "scare" members of Congress into voting against the House health care bill.

"Nothing scares members of Congress more than freedom-loving Americans," Bachmann said. "I think that will absolutely scare these members of Congress so much that [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi will not get the votes and it will kill the bill. I think it could be dead for 10 years."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.