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U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA). PennLive file photo.

The phone calls usually start first thing in the morning, followed by faxes and emails.

Throughout the course of the day, the volume grows to a fever pitch -- estimates place the rate as high as a call every 2.5 seconds. The exact number of written correspondences remains unknown, but to call it "a torrent" would likely be to put it lightly.

Such is life now for U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) and his staffers, as a statewide -- and some would argue far broader -- campaign to steer his decision making has gained steam in the early weeks of President Donald Trump's nascent and, so far, predictably controversial tenure.

Toomey -- who was also on the ballot in November -- never endorsed the president during the campaign.

But in the weeks since Trump took over the Oval Office, Toomey has emerged as a lightning rod of anti-Trump sentiment.

There have been weekly and sometimes more frequent protests outside his offices across the state and in the nation's capital. This includes a demonstration by public school students in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, one meant to oppose Toomey's "yes" vote on Trump's contested education secretary pick, Betsy DeVos, a day earlier. (Toomey responded in an email to PennLive Wednesday, saying: "I welcome the input of these young people and all of my constituents. I support everyone's right to protest peacefully, but students should not skip school to do so.)

There have also been social media campaigns enlisting Trump opponents both in and out of state to press Toomey for his rejection of the president's cabinet picks and platform.

Through it all, Toomey -- who has fashioned himself as something of a moderate Republican in recent years -- has continued to disappoint them, while his staff have scrambled amid a growing, Tea Party-inspired crusade to impose what participants call the "will of the people" on the senator and Lehigh Valley native.

Some of Toomey's defenders, however, describe it as more of a shock-and-awe campaign, one fueled by out-of-state activists and meant to overwhelm his offices with robocalls, boilerplate emails and facsimiles in hopes of deterring or delaying those functions of government they deem objectionable.

This "obstructionism-by-numbers" effort includes the online circulation of materials and instructions on doing just that, at least one example of which was reportedly crafted by a group of "former progressive congressional staffers" who saw the Tea Party beat back President Obama's agenda and now want to emulate that success with Trump on the receiving end.

Meanwhile, a core group of senate staffers remains pitted on the front lines, under a deluge of complaints and calls that is sure to grow as Trump's cabinet appointments are vetted and, more than likely, confirmed.

As the deluge wears on, those complaints have also begun to center on Toomey's availability and the inability of many callers to leave messages on office voicemail accounts already at capacity.

When reached by PennLive on Wednesday, Toomey's office reiterated that the senator continues to meet with critics and constituents whenever possible. They were also quick to point out that his seven offices in Pennsylvania have an average of three to four staffers each. Of those staffers, all have additional responsibilities beyond reception, although that has become an increasingly crucial component of their daily duties in recent weeks amid a "10-fold" increase in calls that started around the time of Trump's inauguration.

"Many are not aware that we are not a large call center," a statement from Toomey's office reads. "Each staff member has many other responsibilities, whether it be outreach or constituent casework related. They may be helping a veteran get his or her benefits or may need to be out of the office representing the Senator at an event."

A senior Toomey staffer added: "We are doing everything in our power to answer as many phone calls and emails and clear out the voicemails and tally faxes as fast as we can. That is happening."

But Toomey's critics persist, many fueled by perceptions of him as a newly minted rubber stamp for the Trump administration on everything from the president's promised Affordable Care Act repeal and Trump's travel ban to his cabinet appointees.

And while the resulting backlash has spawned both calls and physical protests, much of it has also taken shape online in message boards and on social media platforms.

A Facebook post from Toomey's office on Tuesday pointing to the role of out-of-state callers in inundating his offices with inquiries had garnered almost 39,000 comments by Wednesday. Many urge Toomey to vote "no" on Trump's attorney general pick, Jeff Sessions. Others were critical of his "yes" vote on DeVos a day earlier, while a number spelled out their own unpleasant experiences in attempting to contact Toomey's offices directly.

My D.C. and PA offices are receiving a high volume of calls and emails from people outside of our state weighing in on... Posted by Senator Pat Toomey on Monday, February 6, 2017

Fanning the flames further was Toomey's vote in favor of silencing Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren for her "impugning" of Sessions and violation of an obscure Senate decorum rule during a floor debate on Tuesday.

"It is entirely right to enforce a Senate rule that says you may criticize a colleague's policy positions all you like but you do not impugn his or her integrity, character, or motives," Toomey said in an email. "That is just part of civil discourse."

But Toomey's Warren vote seemed to confirm what critics fear is his unwillingness to break the party mold at a time when they hoped more than ever that he would. This as a massive Republican majority in Congress continues to make the so-called moderates within the party the coveted linchpins of a burgeoning Trump resistance.

Toomey has yet to declare a position on Trump nominees like labor secretary pick Andrew Puzder or EPA pick Scott Pruitt. He did announce plans to vote for Sessions on Wednesday evening.

Meanwhile, his critics say that regardless of how he votes, the calls and emails will continue.

"Our goal is to make him aware that there are a lot of Pennsylvanians who disagree with him," said Sarah Stone, a Philadelphia-based organizer with the "Tuesdays with Toomey" group, the same responsible for regular demonstrations outside the senator's offices statewide and elsewhere in recent weeks.

"Hopefully there will be some things where we can find some middle ground. We don't expect him to become a progressive, but we do expect that he will represent all of his constituents. So when nine out of 10 people disagree with the way he is voting, that is inappropriate."

Stone's "nine out of 10" reference comes from the office of Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), which says that of the calls it received concerning DeVos' nomination, 90 percent were opposed.

This breakdown is next to impossible to confirm in Toomey's case, though, especially as it pertains to his constituents across the state of Pennsylvania. It is even harder to do so given the number of out-of-state calls coming into Toomey's offices, as the senator has claimed.

Asked herself about the role of out-of-state groups and activists in helping to lean on Toomey, or in cultivating a local resistance, Stone scoffed: "It's just ridiculous. I'm a graphic designer and mother of two. I'm not getting paid to do this. And I'm talking to you now because my baby is sleeping. We're not professional [protesters]. This is just something we're deeply concerned about."

She added, speaking only for her group: "We have no tech to do robocalls and wouldn't begin to know how to do that. These are real, live people -- real, live Pennsylvanians."

Stone acknowledged that while there may be some people from outside Pennsylvania reaching out to the senator and his staff, she believes the flood of correspondence was, and continues to be, locally sourced.

"After we initially heard Toomey's accusations about paid protesters, robocalls, etc., we created the hashtag #REALPA," Stone said. "If you search it on [Facebook] and Twitter you can find real, concerned Pennsylvanians introducing themselves to Senator Toomey."

Within many of those introductions are calls for Toomey to host a town hall meeting with voters. But if Rep. Tom McClintock's recent experience in California is any indication, it may be a while before that happens.

Toomey's office told PennLive Wednesday that the senator has no town halls currently planned. But it added that Toomey has been to all of Pennsylvania's 67 counties at least twice over the past six years, that he's held 13 town hall meetings, the most recent being in Sunbury and Warren in 2015, and hosted more than 25 telephone town hall meetings allowing him to "communicate with more than 1 million Pennsylvanians."

Realizing this is unlikely to appease those constituents wanting to bend Toomey's ear about Trump, his office continues to take an "all hands on deck" approach, as the phone calls, emails and faxes continue to mount.

UPDATE: This article has been updated to reflect Toomey's plan to vote in favor of Jeff Sessions for attorney general. This article has also been updated to clarify the source of Sarah Stone's "9 out of 10 people disagree" with Toomey statistic.