On Saturday, the day the U.S. Senate voted to move health-care legislation to the floor, Sen. Jim Webb's office received 1,200 calls at the front desk.
That's compared with an average of 1,000 phone calls per week.
The story was similar in Sen. Mark R. Warner's office, as Virginians anxious about a sweeping health-care overhaul have been lighting up the switchboards to voice their opinions.
Warner's office fields about 30,000 contacts -- phone calls, e-mails or letters -- each week. Of those, about 6,300 last week were on the topic of health-care reform, Warner spokesman Kevin Hall said. The office staffed Saturday like a weekday to handle the call volume.
One of last week's callers was Donald Wyatt of Richmond's Fan District, who couldn't get through to Webb's staff but left his thoughts with Warner's office. It was the first time the 59-year-old has contacted one of his U.S. senators to sound off on legislation, and he said it's been a trying experience.
He called Warner's office again yesterday to find out where most of the callers stood on the issue, but he had no luck.
"It's been a very frustrating process to try to understand how that process really works," said Wyatt, who believes the health-care legislation is "too large, too much, too fast with the economy in the position it's in right now."
Webb and Warner, both Democrats, voted to allow debate on the Senate version of health-care legislation, but neither has committed to voting for the actual bill.
Warner's office doesn't keep track of exactly how many callers were on each side of the issue, but the senator gets daily and weekly reports on the "tone and tempo" of constituent contact, his spokesman said.
Webb also receives regular, detailed updates about call volume and the nature of the calls, spokeswoman Jessica Smith said.
It can be difficult to categorize constituent reaction neatly, because callers may approve of only some parts of a bill or may support pieces of the U.S. House of Representatives bill and pieces of the Senate bill, the aides said.
Also, the senators receive calls from political advocacy groups that don't always provide the best snapshot of Virginia constituents.
From Friday through Sunday, Webb's office received 3,900 e-mails from Virginians on the issue, Smith said.
Warner contacted his constituents through at least two e-mails explaining his vote to move the issue for debate. He sent one Saturday evening and another yesterday, in which he tried to reassure those who see Saturday's action as a sign of support for the legislation.
"Saturday's vote was only a starting point that allows us to continue working to include these amendments in the final legislation," he wrote.
"I will only support a final bill if I am convinced it will lower the deficit, drive down health-care costs over the long term, and improve the value and quality of the health care Virginians receive."
Contact Olympia Meola at (804) 649-6812 or omeola@timesdispatch.com.
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