The weight of public response to the bailout measure that's had all Congress atwitter this fortnight overwhelmed House servers earlier this week, slowing or preventing some messages to Representatives.

As of this writing, with debate underway on the floor (liveblog at the Grey Lady; video stream at C-SPAN), the writerep system appears to be functioning normally for this writer but still displays this warning:

Due to an unusually high amount of emails currently being submitted through the Write Your Representative feature (above), you may experience a slow response or error message when attempting to send emails through this system during hours of peak demand. We apologize for this inconvenience. Our technicians are working to fix the problem. Thank you.

So what's an activist organization to do?

Bailouts got you down? What better way to show your organization is paying attention and relevant, than with rapid response tools such as petitions and campaigns.

These tactics on their own won't do much (well, except grow your list!). Consider combining them with a strategy that includes an offline approach, such as printing and delivering your petitions in a creative way, along with calls, in-person visits, etc.

Below is a great example from member group, Campaign for Fresh Air and Clean Politics, who used Salsa to take action on the bailout. Notice how they also used the "letter to the editor" tool and sign-in page.