DES MOINES - Sen. Chuck Grassley made news over the weekend when he "tweeted" that President Obama "got nerve" for sightseeing in Paris while telling lawmakers it's time to deliver on health care reform.

Beginning this morning, Grassley will be on the receiving end of a Twitter campaign aimed at convincing him to support health care reform legislation, including a public health insurance option.

Twitter.com is a free social-networking service that allows users to send and read other people's updates - known as tweets. Grassley has embraced Twitter as a way to stay in touch with constituents.

Change That Works Iowa, an effort by SEIU to see comprehensive health care reform passed by Congress this year, will launch a Twitter health care story blast on today to hit Grassley's Twitter account with one compelling Iowa health care story per hour for 24 hours.

The action will begin at 10 a.m. with stories distributed on Twitter through traditional posts from "CTWIowaSEIU," which Grassley follows, and through direct messages to his username, "ChuckGrassley."

"We'll be telling 24 compelling stories" timed to coincide with Grassley's work as the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee as it marks up health care reform legislation this week, explained Andrew Mertens of Change that Works Iowa.

"It's a great time for him to see what's going on," Mertens said. SEIU wants Grassley to see people need more options, including a public health insurance option.

"In Iowa, all sides are reaching out to him because of his role on the Finance Committee and how involved Iowa has been in this debate because of the caucuses," Mertens said.

Due to the constraints of Twitter - tweets can be no more than 140 characters, each hourly story post will act as a teaser with a link to the full story at www.seiu.org/changethatworks/Iowa.

The stories will be about Iowans who have faced the barrier of private insurance and high health care costs, Mertens said. In some cases, the stories will be told by people who have struggled with the limitations of private health insurance, Mertens said. Others will be told by health care professionals who have seen patients encounter those problems.

Among the stories is that of Sarah Posekany of Cedar Falls who was diagnosed with Crohn's disease 15 years ago. A college freshman at the time, she had to drop her classes to mend from multiple surgeries. Her parent's private insurance dropped her coverage because she was no longer a full-time student. Four years later, she was $180,000 in debt and filed for bankruptcy.

To follow the Twitter campaign, visit: http://twitter.com/CTWIowaSEIU.