Nearly two-dozen major progressive organizations are joining forces for a multi-million-dollar campaign aimed at pressuring Congress to pass President-elect Obama's economic stimulus package in the first hours of his administration.

The effort, dubbed the Campaign for Jobs and Economic Recovery Now, kicks off today with roughly 45 events around the country headed by major unions, healthcare and environmental advocates and liberal organizations.

The groups won't push for specific measures to be included in the bill, instead calling for quick action on the broader bill that results in a landslide vote.

"In my lifetime, certainly, we've never seen an economy in free-fall as it is now," said Dean Baker, co-president of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. "Sector after sector of the economy is just seeing an unprecedented decline."

The recovery package "needs to be big enough to solve the problem; it needs to be targeted so that it boosts the economy in the near term, but also that it lays the groundwork ... for the long term," said Brad Woodhouse, president of Americans United for Change.

Passing big spending measures by narrow margins is an unattractive prospect to the incoming Obama administration. The president-elect is wary of repeating President Clinton's mistakes in the early days of his administration when, despite big majorities in both chambers of Congress, many legislative priorities passed or failed by just a handful of votes.

Now, said Woodhouse, the progressive organizations are aiming for as many as 315 votes in the House, a margin designed to put pressure on Republican senators to back the effort.

"If we can get 290, 300, 315 votes out of the House, and that may be wishful thinking, it would give us momentum for the Senate," Woodhouse said.

The groups are likely to target centrist Republicans, such as Sens. Arlen Specter (Pa.), Mel Martinez (Fla.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Chuck Grassley (Iowa), George Voinovich (Ohio) and Richard Lugar (Ind.), with the goal of exceeding the 60 votes in the Senate needed to overcome a filibuster.

In order to spur Congress to action, the groups are launching what USAction program director Alan Charney called "the most unprecedented campaign that progressives have mounted in recent history."

"Come January, we will be out in the streets at the state houses and mayors' offices, at the district offices of members of Congress," Charney said. "This will only pass in a very big, bold and broad way when the grassroots of America stand up."

Though some liberal organizations and activists have complained in recent weeks about Obama's selection of centrists and even some Republicans for his Cabinet, progressive groups launching the campaign to aid the stimulus plan said they were happy with the selections so far.

"We are very pleased in the direction that the administration is going in on economic policy," said Roger Hickey, co-director of the Campaign for America's Future.

Added Woodhouse, "We think that we've helped elect what is likely the most progressive president in modern history. From our perspective, we're very excited about the prospects for his presidency."