To: J_F_Shepard who wrote (707106 ) 4/2/2013 6:16:27 PM From: joseffy 1 Recommendation Respond to Dems wonder: Is Obama just in it for himself? Hot Air.com ^ | April 2, 2013 | ED MORRISSEYSelf-realization can take years in coming President Barack Obama’s decision to launch his own political organization has some Democrats wondering: Is he just in it for himself? It won’t even share the e-mail list ? How difficult would that be? If it’s a matter of keeping the supposedly “independent” group separate from the national party, a sale of the list could be arranged.“There’s only so much money to go around in Democratic circles. There’s a limited pool of resources,” said Gilda Cobb Hunter, a South Carolina legislator and a member of the Democratic National Committee. “Why can’t we strengthen one entity?” Well, Obama is strengthening one entity — himself. The effort to fund what will be a permanent campaign during his second term is already unprecedented, as is its focus on one man:Other presidents have created or championed organizations outside the major national parties. Bill Clinton, for example, embraced the Democratic Leadership Council, an organization that pushed a moderate agenda. Remember, too, that Obama can’t run for office again, at least not for President. One might think under those circumstances that Obama would want to strengthen the DNC in order to fight for larger Democratic caucuses in the next session of Congress, which is really what Obama needs to push his agenda. Instead, Obama apparently wants to do public-relations end-arounds to bypass not only House Republicans but perhaps also Senate Democrats. That may be especially true on gun control, as Obama attempts to shame his own caucus into putting an assault-weapons ban on the floor that might cost them every red-state Senate seat Democrats will have to defend in 2014.
