A little over a week ago, President Obama launched his relection bid the way he announced his first campaign – with a YouTube video. The video highlighted campaign volunteers in an effort to stress the grassroots nature of his campaign (which will still of course be run from the White House). This continued on the Organizing for America blog, which has done little else but highlight volunteers re-enlisting.
But while they were getting the band back together on a mission from God, Washington, D.C. was breaking out with shutdown fever. Congress and the President didn’t reach a budget deal until late into the evening on Friday, and OFA was nowhere to be found.
For Republicans, the President apparently could not have announced at a better time. With OFA focused on the re-election campaign, there was no one beating the bushes for grassroots action in the week leading up to the deadline deal. Just as Republicans have been wasting the buzz around Paul Ryan’s Path to Prosperity video, OFA sacrificed a chance to score major points.
As the deadline for a shutdown grew nearer, well-timed pressure on wavering GOP lawmakers might have helped the Democrats come out of the first budget battle a bit stronger than they did. As the Obama 2012 campaign kicked off, OFA lost focus.
The Republicans should be prepared to fight a little harder during the next budget battle, because chances OFA won’t miss the opportunity again..
Jim Eltringham 