Posted on 01/23/2010 6:06:22 PM PST by reaganaut1
President Obama is reconstituting the team that helped him win the White House to counter Republican challenges in the midterm elections and recalibrate after political setbacks that have narrowed his legislative ambitions.
Mr. Obama has asked his former campaign manager, David Plouffe, to oversee House, Senate and governor’s races to stave off a hemorrhage of seats in the fall. The president ordered a review of the Democratic political operation — from the White House to party committees — after last week’s Republican victory in the Massachusetts Senate race, aides said.
In addition to Mr. Plouffe, who will primarily work from the Democratic National Committee in consultation with the White House, several top operatives from the Obama campaign will be dispatched across the country to advise major races as part of the president’s attempt to take greater control over the midterm elections, aides said.
“We are turning the corner to a much more political season,” said David Axelrod, a senior adviser, who confirmed Mr. Plouffe’s role. “We are going to evaluate what we need to do to get timely intelligence and early warnings so we don’t face situations like we did in Massachusetts.”
As Mr. Obama prepares to deliver his State of the Union address on Wednesday and lay out his initiatives for the second year of his presidency, his decision to take greater control of the party’s politics signals a new approach. The White House is searching for ways to respond to panic among Democrats over the possible demise of his health care bill and a political landscape being reshaped by a wave of populism.
Improving tactical operations addresses only part of his challenge. A more complicated discussion under way, advisers said, is how to sharpen the president’s message and leadership style.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I actually look forward to the results of Obama running all the congressional Democrats' campaigns. He's been so effective in VA, NJ, and MA.
It's not the tactics, President Stupid -- it's that your failed policies are unpopular.
Panic mode.
“Obama Moves to Centralize Control Over Party Strategy”
Gee doesn’t that sound communist.
He’s going to do to the Democratic Party what he is doing to our country. I hope they enjoy it. The Dems know they are deer in the headlights, and the Ploofter isn’t going to change that.
Each national Communist party had its Central Control Commission. Same here.
This should be fun to watch.
Not all the democrats are going to want their campaigns contolled by someone else.
Amen.
My first thought was that this is exactly what the American people want to hear / NOT.
My second thought was - isn’t there some kind of law that prevents total political effort coming from the White House during the time a sitting _resident is in office?
Just askin....
Translation: “FOAD, Blue Dogs! I won.”
Fox News is showing a great Obama retrospective.
Worth watching, IMHO.
This will be his number one priority..beating the enemy..us the people. In the meantime everything else will go to hell.
Government employees are forbidden BY LAW to use Government funds and resources to participate in elections. However, as you know, this only applies to Republican campaigns. For Democrat campaigns, it’s all good.
So Mr. Obama is creating a Politburo. Isn't that special!
AND he wants to kick it into high gear!!!
Epic fail
Worse than Jimmah Carter!
Yes. All tyrannies or tyrannies to be are....centralized.
He really isn't going to change course, is he? Wow, this is going to be an amazing journey until November.
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