How Obama "Disarmed" Dem Fundraising
Politico reports:
Democrats enter the homestretch of the 2010 elections complaining vocally about the flood of Republican money, much of it anonymous, pounding their candidates.
But as the White House points the finger at outside Republican groups, many Democrats point the finger back at the White House, which dismantled the Democratic Party's own outside infrastructure in 2008 and never tried to rebuild it.
The blame certainly isn't President Barack Obama's alone. The rich Democrats who would traditionally give to such groups are — like Democrats at large — demoralized, particularly by the defeat of climate change legislation. They're disheartened by the conservative revival. And they're resigned to a Republican victory in November.
But it's also easy to underestimate the president's ability to increase the flow of cash to Democrat-friendly groups had he chosen to do so. Instead, Obama's choice has been unilateral disarmament.
To the White House, that posture is a mark of the purity of the presidential brand and of Obama's consistency. "Throughout his 2008 campaign, the president vowed to change business as usual in Washington and take on some of the tough challenges that politicians in Washington had put off for too long," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. "We're pleased to have made so much progress on these priorities — from Wall Street reform to health care reform — while staying true to the values and vision that earned the enthusiastic support of so many Democrats and Republicans during the campaign."
But to some of its more practical-minded allies, the White House is protecting the brand at a very real cost to the party.
"The leadership of the Obama campaign warned their donors against giving to outside groups, including many of the key issue groups that motivate progressives. The leadership in the White House has done the same thing," said Erica Payne, one of the founders of the Democracy Alliance, a group of the largest liberal donors, who now heads the Agenda Project. "As a result, the administration often looks like Will Ferrell in the movie 'Old School' — running through the street naked, shouting, 'Come on, everybody's streaking,' when in reality they are all by themselves."
Obama's position stands in sharp contrast to the approach of previous presidents of both parties. President George W. Bush maintained warm relations with — and later rewarded — some of the men who financed the cutting attacks on John Kerry in 2004. Bill Clinton faced constant criticism for the ardor with which he wooed the giant donors who contributed now-banned "soft money" to the Democratic National Committee.
And President Bill Clinton's former aides are some of those watching incredulously as Obama helplessly denounces outside money instead of encouraging Democratic donors or even cultivating the kind of megadonors who might spend in his support.
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