More than 50 civil-rights groups are joining forces to press for a government-run health plan as Congress considers health-care proposals, says The New York Times.

The campaign, involving organizations that include the venerable NAACP, the National Urban League, and the five-year-old Hip Hop Caucus, will be run out of a Washington “war room.” The groups will use phone banks, rallies, and radio call-in shows in an effort to increase support for a government plan.

Christopher Fleming, an NAACP spokesman, said civil-rights organizations have not coordinated their efforts like this on a piece of legislation since the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

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