By Alex Knott, CQ Staff

One of the biggest fundraising forces of the 2008 election has launched a massive support effort for 65 lawmakers who have pledged not to vote for a health care overhaul bill without a public option.

ActBlue, which raised more than $52 million for Democrats during the last election, started raising money Tuesday and has already collected more than $108,000, which will be spread among the 65 Democratic lawmakers listed on its Web site. The goal is to raise $150,000 as quickly as possible. Contributors are allowed to choose which of the House members on the list receive their money.

The fundraising effort, aimed at boosting awareness and support for a public option plan, comes at a time when questions have been raised about whether the Obama administration will continue to support efforts in Congress to include a public option as part of an overhaul measure.

Some lawmakers have said that it may be the only way to guarantee that the nation’s 47 million uninsured Americans will be able to buy affordable coverage.

Among those who could benefit from the ActBlue effort is House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank , D-Mass. Frank held a contentious town hall meeting with constituents Tuesday night in an attempt to dispel rumors about what an overhaul would contain — including charges from some that it would provide free coverage for illegal immigrants and create “death panels” to decide when to end the life of elderly patients. He called those claims “the single most stupid arguments” he had ever heard in politics.

At one point, Frank got into it with a woman who compared President Obama to Adolph Hitler.

“On what planet, do you spend most of your time,” Frank responded. “You stand there with a picture of the president defaced to look like Hitler and compare the effort to increase health care to the Nazis.”

“It is a tribute to the First Amendment,” Frank continued, “ that this kind of vile, contemptible nonsense is so freely propagated.”