Whether by website or over the phone, the congressman who would represent much of Asheville under a new redistricting plan heard it from constituents Tuesday.

Heeding President Barack Obama's call in his nationwide address, thousands tried to reach the office of Rep. Patrick McHenry and other Republicans. Obama urged people to tell their congressmen to take a “balanced approach” to the debt-limit debate, one that would combine spending cuts with tax increases for wealthier Americans.

Constituents who visited McHenry's website were greeted with an error message stating that the site was unavailable.

Michael Babyak, McHenry's spokesman, said the congressman's Washington office received about three times the usual number of calls and emails on Tuesday.

McHenry's website has been overloaded periodically since Monday night, although technicians have been working to fix the problem, Babyak said.

“It's been caused by the president's call to action last night (Monday) in his speech,” he said. “There's just been a lot of increased traffic today.”
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