Obama turns to e-mail network to push stimulus plan
Democratic strategists are appealing for help from President Obama’s massive grass-roots network, which was created during the presidential campaign, as they try to build support for the president’s economic stimulus package.
The strategists on Friday called on supporters to host “economic recovery house meetings” next weekend, marking the first call to action for the network in support of the White House policy agenda.
The e-mail was sent by Mitch Stewart, director of the network that was recently renamed Organizing for America, derived from the name of Obama’s presidential campaign, Obama for America.
The e-mail stops short of telling members to directly target Republicans and the 11 conservative Democrats in the House who voted against the president’s $819-billion plan Wednesday. But it says the goal of the house meetings is to inform neighbors about the president’s proposal and to “help the people you know connect the recovery plan to their lives and learn more about why it’s so important.”
The Senate is expected to take up the stimulus plan next week, in the next test of how many Republican lawmakers are willing to join with Obama and Democratic legislators. Negotiations on the bill between the House and Senate could lead to additional votes in both chambers.
The e-mail came as liberal organizations began running ads on television and radio Friday targeting Republican House and Senate members, and it asks that the house meetings be scheduled for the weekend of Feb. 6 -- just before Obama hopes Congress will be taking its final votes on the package.
“If it’s going to move forward, we need to avoid the usual partisan games,” the e-mail says.
The stimulus fight represents an earlier-than-expected challenge for the Obama network, which is still being constructed as strategists debate internally how to best transform the president’s Internet-fueled web of trained organizers and street-level volunteers into a ground army to support his governing agenda.
White House strategists hope the network -- with its database of 13 million e-mail addresses and unprecedented network of neighborhood coordinators -- will pressure lawmakers to support Obama’s goals on healthcare and energy, among other issues.
Democratic strategists are expected to hire hundreds of organizers to work for the network in politically important states and congressional districts.
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