Will Obama Mobilize His Millions?

By David Corn | February 6, 2009 11:04 AM | | Comments (2)

Yesterday, I noted that President Barack Obama, as he makes the case for the stimulus plan, needs to get out more. That is, he has so far played mainly an inside game, trying to work Washington to get a decent package out of Congress. In doing so,

Obama and his aides have encountered the typical difficulties of Washington. It's hard to find experienced influence-makers for high-level appointments who are not tainted by the town's K Street culture. It's tough to score bipartisan points by working with partisans. It's a bitch to ask Capitol Hill machers to change their ways (of appropriating and legislating). It's not easy to control the message when a cacophonous media focus (sometimes rightfully) on missteps and conflict.

The Obama White House has not followed the gameplan that was so masterfully used by the Obama campaign. It's done little to mobilize the millions of Obama supporters to apply pressure on Congress. (Organizing for America, the continuation of the Obama for America campaign, has a mailing list of 13 million names.)

Joel Achenbach of The Washington Post echoed these sentiments (or noted that I had echoed his sentiments on this point):

I read this excellent David Corn column just now, and once again became aware of my own uncanny and unnatural blogtriloquism.
Corn: "President Barack Obama needs to get outside the Beltway...Obama has the communication skills of Reagan plus communications technologies that the Gipper could not have dreamed of. But he is only now beginning to ramp up."
Achenblog : "Don't go wonky. Keep making speeches to adoring throngs. Just because you finally have a real, executive-type job, and 2.6 million employees under your particular branch of government, doesn't mean you should stop doing what you do better than just about anyone, which is campaign -- or, more precisely, inspire people. You got the biggest megaphone in the world, so don't hesitate to use it. And the Republicans don't have to sign off on any of your speechifying."

Others I have spoken to expressed surprise and/or frustration that Obama hasn't been swinging harder--either rhetorically or by using the powerful populist apparatus he developed during the campaign. A former Clinton White House aide told me s/he was astonished that the campaign mechanisms had been allowed to fade. After all, Obama's political advisers had almost three months after Election Day to figure out how to turn the campaign machine into a support-the-president machine--and have it ready to roll and roar on Inauguration Day. An expert on politics and technology told me that s/he suspects that Rahm Emanuel and others at the White House are just not that into grassroots politics. (David Axelrod, where are you?)

On Thursday night, while speaking to House Democrats in Williamsburg, Virginia, Obama did get somewhat more partisan when responding to GOP criticism of the stimulus bill:

Don't come to the table with the same tired arguments and worn ideas that helped to create this crisis....I welcome this debate. But come on, we're not -- we are not going to get relief by turning back to the very same policies that for the last eight years doubled the national debt and threw our economy into a tailspin. We can't embrace the losing formula that says only tax cuts will work for every problem we face; that ignores critical challenges....I don't care whether you're driving a hybrid or an SUV -- if you're headed for a cliff, you've got to change direction. That's what the American people called for in November, and that's what we intend to deliver....So the American people are watching. They did not send us here to get bogged down with the same old delay, the same old distractions, the same talking points, the same cable chatter. You know, aren't you all tired of that stuff?

He didn't quite refer to the Republicans as the Party of No. But he leaned in that direction. Though Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he has the 60 votes he needs to pass the stimulus bill, one question is whether Obama will continue to sharpen his language and, more important, engage the millions who back him in order to bring them into the process. Speaking to House Dems is one thing, speaking--and moving--the American public is quite another.

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Tags: Barack Obama, David Axelrod, economy, Joel Achenbach, Obama administration, Rahm Emanuel, stimulus package, stimulus plan

    Comments

  1. Is the IT system working at the White House? I read an article which said that the computers, email, Blackberrys, phones and other IT devices were not working as the Administration moved into the White House. I never understand " hit the ground running" as a measure of a new administration. It takes a while to find the offices, get the equipment running, etc. I know "hit the ground running" is a grand tradition for the news media, who are all settled in and waiting, but new administrations, coming to town from someplace else in the US, need a couple of weeks to get things in order. New leaders coming into a business or school often plan to take several months to get the "lie of the land." It's stupid to expect any new administration to have it all tied together in the first few weeks. But, of course, any failures are great sport for the media.

    Posted by: Applecrisp Author Profile Page | February 6, 2009 1:03 PM

  2. DC,

    Public Support for Stimulus Package Unchanged at 52%

    http://tinyurl.com/d8w2wt

    ****

    It might make sense to save his powder for something the American public are not already in favor of?

    Posted by: capt Author Profile Page | February 6, 2009 1:06 PM

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