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Is the Obama Army Stirring?
November 11, 2009 3:44 PM
ABC News’ Rick Klein reports:
We've been critical in this space of the stop-and-start efforts by Organizing for America -- the offshoot of the old Obama campaign operation -- to, well, get itself organized effectively.
At Talking Points Memo, Christina Bellantoni gets a glimpse at some metrics that -- while still less-than-stunning compared to the 13 million e-mail addresses on the campaign's lists by November 2008 -- suggest that "OFA has strengthened into a (smaller) mirror of the campaign, with volunteers in every single Congressional district and staff on the ground in every state but Oklahoma."
In terms of impact on the Hill, here's a biggie: It was OFA volunteers who flagged for headquarters the possibility that Rep. Joseph Cao, R-La., would vote for the health care bill, Bellantoni reports.
That allowed the organization to turn up the pressure on Cao, in what turned out to be a successful push to get a Republican to support the measure.
We talked about it with Bellantoni on ABCNews.com's "Top Line" today: "I'm sure there's some spin there; they obviously have a good reason to say that their organization is going well. But at the same time, they are organized and they're attacking it in the same way they attacked the campaign. And that was a successful strategy for them, and was really getting the volunteers to do the work."
And will OFA go after Democrats? "My sense is no," she said. "We kind of danced around this in my interview with these guys, but essentially they said everybody [in the Democratic Party] wants to see the president's agenda passed."
November 11, 2009 in Obama Agenda, President Obama | Permalink | Share | User Comments (24)
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Is this going to be the new ACORN or the SEIU?
Posted by: janet | Nov 11, 2009 4:23:02 PM
I think I saw some members of the "O'Babble Army" on Hannity last night. Weren't those the young people who couldn't name the Vice President or the Speaker of the House are ?
Posted by: Ron | Nov 11, 2009 4:29:34 PM
Perhaps he should send this army to Afghanistan if this is his army of choice.
Posted by: Jeff | Nov 11, 2009 4:50:31 PM
Our Government has been reduced to a pickup game by steet thugs. Doesn't matter how they win; sharp elbows to the gut, a push here a shove there all that matters is to win at all cost.
It doesn't matter that not all will get healthcare under these plans or that funds will be collected years before anyone gets a benefit whch tells me this is not about helping anyone except the Government to be bigger and for people to be more dependent.
It matters that "my side, the Obama side" wins.
Posted by: david | Nov 11, 2009 5:01:13 PM
Is this the army of fools?
Posted by: jonny | Nov 11, 2009 5:10:25 PM
I understand that ACONE gets refunded in 2010. This has been his main battery
in his attack on the voters. So this
lame organization must be looked at from every angle, to insure no interference in the up coming 2010 elections.
REMEMBER - The first health Care bill was 1900 pages long, that no one read, so they reintroduce the same mess as a 1900 page bill, no one understood, or has read, and it gets passed.
Look for P.O. to sneak acone back out in the streets again.
Posted by: DVY | Nov 11, 2009 5:11:39 PM
Organizing For America? More like, Organizing For Obama. These people are scary.
Posted by: pam | Nov 11, 2009 5:37:18 PM
I'm glad to hear that real people are organizing to get these moderate changes to our health care system passed. The bill doesnt't go far enough, in my opinion, and there have already been too many compromises to big business, which is all the republicans care about. But it's a good start. Those who complain about the length of the bill - you know how to read, start reading it.
Posted by: mercyfork | Nov 11, 2009 6:53:08 PM
Visions of secret police and an American KGB abound...
Posted by: Jon | Nov 11, 2009 7:03:56 PM
Gallup poll-11/11- Republicans have moved ahead of Democrats by 48% to 44% among registered voters in the latest update on Gallup's generic congressional ballot for the 2010 House elections, after trailing by six points in July and two points last month. In the latest poll, independent registered voters favor the Republican candidate by 52% to 30%.
So are the Dems going to use this group to steal the election along with the New Black Panther party and Acorn. The Dems have too left for the independents and moderates in the country. So if they continue with the public option, cap and trade, they will lose even more people.We can't stay in the world of the left nor the world of the far right.
Posted by: jschmidt | Nov 11, 2009 8:01:17 PM
Only in Obamaland where you can bribe one Republican and call your bill "bipartisan"... Sheesh!
Posted by: jafo | Nov 11, 2009 8:15:30 PM
This is sickening! Obama's army, give me a break! He is supposed to be OUR president, not the grand potentate of unions!
Posted by: Ed Taylor | Nov 11, 2009 8:42:04 PM
fedd- keep denying it, you along with all the other Dems and you'll a big move to the right in 2010. Tea partys are the people way of being heard. Some of them yelled at Republicans as well as Dems because everyone his ticked about the amount of money being thrown out by Congress. A wasted $787 billion for stimulus here and $1.2 billion for healthcare. Expansion of big govt is not affordable.
Posted by: jschmidt | Nov 11, 2009 10:03:37 PM
ABC once again puts themselves squarely in the right-wing arena with this headline. "Obama's Army", as they put it, cannot be any more damaging than if they had put up pictures of brownshirts and Obama with a Hitler mustache. With all of the wingnuts on the right believing the garbage from Beck and Limbaugh about fascist, jackbooted thugs coming to take guns away, this irresponsible headline only offers to incite the gullible right even more.
It would have been easy to call it something else, like "Obama's efforts at increasing volunteerism", or something to that effect (which would have been much more truthful).
ABC shows us again where their allegiances lie, and it's not with the majority of sensible, intelligent, Americans.
Posted by: Seatech1 | Nov 11, 2009 10:16:07 PM
"Visions of secret police and an American KGB abound..." --- So you better put on your tin foil hat.
Posted by: Mark from atlanta | Nov 11, 2009 10:32:40 PM
"The bill doesnt't go far enough, in my opinion, and there have already been too many compromises to big business, which is all the republicans care about." --- Dont forget about the blue dog corporate lap dogs.
Posted by: Mark from atlanta | Nov 11, 2009 10:37:36 PM
Ge, Exxon, Enron, Goldman sucks, Gm, Chrysler...all big corps thrilled they have obama in to rip we taxpayers off by trillions with Obama, Pelosi, Geitner, Bernake help. I'd be careful of accusing republicans of being in bed with big business when Obama's Gorebal warming scam and health scam have so many ubber rich corps absolutely giddy at what they are stealing.
Posted by: VeryPainfulTruth | Nov 12, 2009 12:19:17 AM
Yes indeed the Pres. and the Democratic congress has helped us tremendously thus far..there was the GMC and Chrysler bailout, we all got a new car as part owners of the company....oh no wrong. Okay there was the bank bailout where we all received billions in bonuses..oh wrong again. Okay there was the stimulus that helped us all..oh wrong again. That helped build a 13 foot tunnel for turtles and other wildlife to cross U.S. 27 in Florida. Surely the health care bill will help us all..we will just be heavily taxed for that one and receive government run health care....Well he helped with the unemployment rate not going over 8%...wrong again it's at 10.2 and rising..Maybe the cap and tax...I just saw Gore as he boarded his plane heading to the bank and he said it will definately help us but he was laughing so hard I didn't quite get how much he said it would cost us. Somebody let the President and Congress know they have helped us enough and we can take it from here.
Posted by: bailedout | Nov 12, 2009 1:05:57 AM
Really? The entire Democrat party wants to see Obama's Communist agenda passed? Oh, I forgot, Liberals aren't smart enough to draw the lines of comparison between freedom and communism.
Just another reason to never again cast a vote for a Democrat no matter how bad the republican is. At least their party platform is based on the constitution.
Posted by: Dan2865 | Nov 12, 2009 8:19:28 AM
So lets see...those who are deemed as "sensible, intelligent" Americans want to see us with an added 1 trillion dollar deficit, a system of socialized medicine in which we wait months for life saving surgery, a government that attempts to squash ANY opposing opinions, and a government that cannot make up its mind, other than to "not rush to judgement" about the half-wit Muslim that assassinated 13 innocents at Fort Hood, yet can implicate the local police in the carrying out of its duties? If thats the case, I LOVE being non-sensible and non-intelligent!
Posted by: angus | Nov 12, 2009 9:29:18 AM
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