Obama is one of the most complex public figures we have had in a very long time. He is not a one-dimensional character like Cheney or the flat two dimensional character of most of the Bushies including Bush. Compared to Obama, the Bushies were the hollow ones. They had all the ability to deal with the complex world issues that I might or one of the twins of Bush might have. In fact, the twins might have done better because of the lack of arrogance that their father had. I don't think it is disloyal or a disservice to try to understand team Obama better. And the differences between Bush and Obama point out starkly the differences in followers. Bush followers, red state fans have no desire to dig deeply into his id (which is fortunate, IMO). We,OTOH, love to dig into motives, backgrounds, interactions, etc. It is fitting that Bush Presidency reigned in the zeros.
I came across this great twofer:
What happens when myth hits reality? This is a great twofer because it includes an interview by the Nation of David Plouffe on the occasion of Plouffe's new book: The Audacity to Win.
One of the really effective things that the Obama organization did was pairing people up, giving them a feeling that there were others just like them and letting them support each other for supporting Obama.
Another effective thing was the push by youngsters to enlist their elders on behalf of Obama. I was a target of this - my grandson decided he was would to enlist me about the time that Edwards dropped out. I was an Edwards supporter primarily because I felt he was a fighter. And dems have been such pushovers it has not been a fun trip. Oh, they might get fired up, pardon the pun, at a dem rally, but then it is back to business right after, trying to ignore any divisions between dems and repubs.
In the Nation interview, Plouffe is asked about Markos and Micah Sifry characterizes the exchange:
Hearing Melber describe the disgusted reaction of uber-blogger Markos Moulitsas to a recent OFA fundraising email, Plouffe somewhat hotly replies, "It's easy to take potshots, but I'm very closely in contact with the people who make up the heartbeat of the ground level of Obama for America, who are still out there." (Telling that he says "Obama for America," not "Organizing for America.")
Some of us have been extremely frustrated by the difference in style of Obama the campaigner and Obama the Commander in Chief. Now it is inevitable that when the rubber hit the road a lot of tread wore off in the process and it is the same with anybody in that office. Obama hit that ground harder and faster than any previous president partly because he had to and partly because he felt very strongly that he had a very short window of time to really get things done. And he still is driven and he still is fighting to get his agenda through before the dems wilt like lettuce.
But I found lack of follow through on what seem to me to be a tremendous grass roots organizing strategy for the campaign extremely weird. It seems as if Obama stopped the car, jacked it up and took off the wheels! Plouffe denies this and says he is in intimate contact with at least 2,000,000 supporters who are quietly supporting health care. It is the latter statement that boggles my mind. We didn't need quiet, we needed some heat and noise and light on our side and team Obama turned the dial down, IMO.
In the interview Plouffe touts the Organizing for America as a great way to reach people. To put out information to people who do not watch CNN, FOX or cable and allow those folks to take on others with Obama generated talking points. But he admits that now there is about a 20% open rate on those emails. But he does bring up a point. I don't watch tv. I get my news on-line. (I guess that some things like KO and Rachel Maddow ARE tv, but you know!) So there must be at least those two million folks who live for the emails from OforA. How do they view the world? This to me is the most important issue of team Obama. He had people working day and night for him and then he just shut off the spigot. Left the machinery running so the motor doesn't get cold, but distanced himself from the most important aspect of his campaign days, an aspect he could have taken with him throughout his tenure. And it is the nature of this structure that somehow WE should incorporate so that the feeling of supporting each other and the feeling of community lives.
This is a very smart group and I would never ever try to second guess them. I am only asking from my pov: Do you still feel a strong connection with President Obama and is it as strong as when he campaigned? And, knowing that he is a smart son of a gun, do you feel that he has made all the right moves since being in office?