Giant frogs. Bugs. Wild, ferocious-ish bears. These are but a few examples of the daring costumes worn by Sunlighters this past Monday as they stopped by their nearest Super Committee member’s office. Dozens of people in over 10 cities made this unconventional trick or treat trip as part of our Haunt the House (and Senate) campaign. To be fair, not everyone came in costume, but we all carried the same powerful message:

We are tired of the lack of transparency in the Super Committee and we support common sense reforms to improve the process.

We’ve blogged extensively about these reforms here (and here and here and you can learn more here), but the long and short of it is that the kind of access that we need to ensure that the Super Committee’s recommendations are made as part of a democratic process are easy to achieve and painless for the Committee to enact. So, they should.

Sunlight and our coalition of nearly 40 partners have been pushing this message through conventional means — letters to Congress, calls, etc. On Halloween, we asked you to help us take this message directly to the source. In response, Senators Portman, Kerry, Kyl, Murray, and Toomey, and other members of the Super Committee got multiple knocks on the doors of several of their district offices.

Overall, Sunlighters seemed to have a great haunting experience, with friendly, attentive, note-taking staff who promised to take the message to the top. (We’ll post and blog about any responses received as we get them.) At a few offices, Senator Portman’s in particular, staff were aware we were coming — of course, the “we” they expected was a rancorous rally, not the friendly haunters looking to sit for a chat. Still, it made for an extra splash for the people in Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati making their visit.

We’ll have more info — and a super sweet video — to share about this event within the next few days, and will be sure to keep you posted about how the Senators and Representatives act in response. Curious for what’s next or bummed that you didn’t get to participate because you don’t have Super Committee representation? Don’t worry. We hear you. We are going to keep up the pressure on the Committee, so look for more ways to participate soon. In the meantime, check out http://sunlightfoundation.com/opensupercongress for more ways to make your voice heard.