From Talking Points Memo
Nine months ago when the Democrats who ran Barack's Obama campaign created Organizing for America, no one was sure exactly how it would work or whether it was possible to harness the enthusiasm for the new president and translate it into action.But nearing the anniversary of Obama's election, 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.They also are growing the Obama donor base.TPMDC has learned that 24.7 percent of the donations made online to OFA are new donors - people who didn't give during the campaign. That's a pretty striking figure give that a record 3 million people donated during 2007 and 2008.Organizationally, the boots-on-the-ground, Washington outsider vibe has translated into real results as well. Saturday morning, an OFA volunteer in Louisiana flagged for the team that Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA) might end up supporting health care.The administration had been talking to Cao behind the scenes, but it was the volunteer who emailed OFA staffers to report that the Republican's office wasn't saying he was against the bill which opened the floodgates. OFA volunteers made 550 calls to the district office on Saturday in the hours before he became the lone Republican to back the bill.In an exclusive interview with TPMDC, OFA officials laid out their metrics so far and stressed the results have exceeded expectations…
Nine months ago when the Democrats who ran Barack's Obama campaign created Organizing for America, no one was sure exactly how it would work or whether it was possible to harness the enthusiasm for the new president and translate it into action.
But nearing the anniversary of Obama's election, 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.
They also are growing the Obama donor base.
TPMDC has learned that 24.7 percent of the donations made online to OFA are new donors - people who didn't give during the campaign. That's a pretty striking figure give that a record 3 million people donated during 2007 and 2008.
Organizationally, the boots-on-the-ground, Washington outsider vibe has translated into real results as well. Saturday morning, an OFA volunteer in Louisiana flagged for the team that Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA) might end up supporting health care.
The administration had been talking to Cao behind the scenes, but it was the volunteer who emailed OFA staffers to report that the Republican's office wasn't saying he was against the bill which opened the floodgates. OFA volunteers made 550 calls to the district office on Saturday in the hours before he became the lone Republican to back the bill.
In an exclusive interview with TPMDC, OFA officials laid out their metrics so far and stressed the results have exceeded expectations…
From the New York Times
Democrats are trying to build popular support for health care legislation by enlisting people who voted last year for Barack Obama.Organizing for America, the Obama campaign arm of the Democratic National Committee, is sending e-mail message to Obama supporters on Thursday. The missives urge recipients to descend on the offices of the 32 Republican House members who represent districts that voted for Mr. Obama in 2008 but who also voted against health-care legislation in the House on Saturday.In the e-mail, Mitch Stewart, the director of Organizing for America, encourages Obama supporters to tell these Republicans to get with the health-care program or they may be booted out of office.The Republican representative, the message says, “must understand that caving to the well-heeled lobbyists in D.C. has consequences at the ballot box back home.”Targets include Republican stalwarts like Mary Bono Mack of California, elected more than a decade ago, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, elected two decades ago, as well as Charles Dent of Pennsylvania, who was first elected in 2004 and is viewed as more vulnerable...
Democrats are trying to build popular support for health care legislation by enlisting people who voted last year for Barack Obama.
Organizing for America, the Obama campaign arm of the Democratic National Committee, is sending e-mail message to Obama supporters on Thursday. The missives urge recipients to descend on the offices of the 32 Republican House members who represent districts that voted for Mr. Obama in 2008 but who also voted against health-care legislation in the House on Saturday.
In the e-mail, Mitch Stewart, the director of Organizing for America, encourages Obama supporters to tell these Republicans to get with the health-care program or they may be booted out of office.
The Republican representative, the message says, “must understand that caving to the well-heeled lobbyists in D.C. has consequences at the ballot box back home.”
Targets include Republican stalwarts like Mary Bono Mack of California, elected more than a decade ago, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, elected two decades ago, as well as Charles Dent of Pennsylvania, who was first elected in 2004 and is viewed as more vulnerable...
From The Hill
The House could be in session until nearly Christmas Eve to try to win final passage on a healthcare bill.House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) outlined the new schedule on Wednesday, saying he is prepared to keep the House working until Dec. 22 in order to pass the keystone issue of President Barack Obama’s first year in office.Hoyer’s move follows Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) decision late Tuesday night to file a motion that could allow the Senate to begin debate on healthcare next week…Late on Tuesday, Reid filed a motion to introduce the Senate healthcare bill on Monday, Nov. 16. Anticipating a Republican objection, the bill would be pushed onto the Senate calendar.Reid’s action sets up a critical vote next week on a motion to proceed to the bill. Such a motion would require 60 votes to succeed — an important early test of the Democratic caucus’s unity on procedural votes…
The House could be in session until nearly Christmas Eve to try to win final passage on a healthcare bill.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) outlined the new schedule on Wednesday, saying he is prepared to keep the House working until Dec. 22 in order to pass the keystone issue of President Barack Obama’s first year in office.
Hoyer’s move follows Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) decision late Tuesday night to file a motion that could allow the Senate to begin debate on healthcare next week…
Late on Tuesday, Reid filed a motion to introduce the Senate healthcare bill on Monday, Nov. 16. Anticipating a Republican objection, the bill would be pushed onto the Senate calendar.
Reid’s action sets up a critical vote next week on a motion to proceed to the bill. Such a motion would require 60 votes to succeed — an important early test of the Democratic caucus’s unity on procedural votes…
From the Associated Press
President Obama won't accept any of the Afghanistan war options before him without changes, a senior administration official said, as concerns soar over the ability of the Afghan government to secure its own country one daySecretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday that she is concerned about Afghanistan's "corruption, lack of transparency, poor governance (and) absence of the rule of law.""We're looking to President Karzai as he forms a new government to take action that will demonstrate — not just to the international community but first and foremost to his own people — that his second term will respond the needs that are so manifest," Clinton said during a news conference in Manila with Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo…He remains close to announcing his revamped war strategy — troops are just one component — and probably will do so shortly after he returns from a trip to Asia that ends Nov. 19.Yet in Wednesday's pivotal war council meeting, Obama wasn't satisfied with any of the Afghanistan war options presented by his national security team, one official said.The president instead pushed for revisions to clarify how and when U.S. troops would turn over responsibility to the Afghan government. In turn, that could change the dynamic of both how many additional troops are sent to Afghanistan and what the timeline would be for their presence in the war zone, according to the official…
President Obama won't accept any of the Afghanistan war options before him without changes, a senior administration official said, as concerns soar over the ability of the Afghan government to secure its own country one day
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday that she is concerned about Afghanistan's "corruption, lack of transparency, poor governance (and) absence of the rule of law."
"We're looking to President Karzai as he forms a new government to take action that will demonstrate — not just to the international community but first and foremost to his own people — that his second term will respond the needs that are so manifest," Clinton said during a news conference in Manila with Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo…
He remains close to announcing his revamped war strategy — troops are just one component — and probably will do so shortly after he returns from a trip to Asia that ends Nov. 19.
Yet in Wednesday's pivotal war council meeting, Obama wasn't satisfied with any of the Afghanistan war options presented by his national security team, one official said.
The president instead pushed for revisions to clarify how and when U.S. troops would turn over responsibility to the Afghan government. In turn, that could change the dynamic of both how many additional troops are sent to Afghanistan and what the timeline would be for their presence in the war zone, according to the official…
From the Wall Street Journal
A handful of states stand to win significant federal funding to revamp schools and impose strict testing standards under an Obama administration effort to alter educational practices across the country.Education Secretary Arne Duncan plans to release final rules Thursday that states must follow to vie for $4.35 billion in education grants, one of the most significant competitions within the $787 billion stimulus package and the largest pot of federal discretionary funding ever for local schools.Using an elaborate scoring system, the program seeks to reward those states that have already taken steps to shake up their school systems. But federal education officials will also look closely at plans in the works to measure student performance, reward good teachers and turn around failing schools…
A handful of states stand to win significant federal funding to revamp schools and impose strict testing standards under an Obama administration effort to alter educational practices across the country.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan plans to release final rules Thursday that states must follow to vie for $4.35 billion in education grants, one of the most significant competitions within the $787 billion stimulus package and the largest pot of federal discretionary funding ever for local schools.
Using an elaborate scoring system, the program seeks to reward those states that have already taken steps to shake up their school systems. But federal education officials will also look closely at plans in the works to measure student performance, reward good teachers and turn around failing schools…
