Obama Tends To New Hampshire With Eye On 2012

WASHINGTON -- The morning after his "shellacking," President Barack Obama made an unusual but crucial congratulatory phone call, not to a winning Democratic House candidate but rather to a losing one, and one whom few people outside of her home state know.

Why? Because he was watching his back in a place where, on the off chance he faces a primary challenge in 2012, he will need to hold the line.

The president wanted to shower deserved praise on attorney Ann McLane Kuster for her brilliant, well-financed but (just barely) losing race in New Hampshire's 2nd District against former GOP Rep. Charlie Bass. He also urged her to try again, and pledged his support if she did so -- and she quickly agreed.

"He couldn't have been nicer or more supportive," Kuster told The Huffington Post after the election. "He said that I'd run a great race and that he'd be there for me to try it again if I want to, and I do."

All very nice and routine. But there is of course more to the story.

Kuster was the first, most effective and ultimately most important Obama supporter in the 2008 New Hampshire Democratic primary against Hillary Clinton. Obama lost, but Kuster was the top-ranked member of his New Hampshire delegation at the convention.

The legatee of a proud and influential old New Hampshire family (Republicans initially), Kuster built a superb organization in the House race, and both she and the president want to keep it intact -- not only for any (unlikely) primary challenge, but to give the Obama a chance to win the state again the fall of 2012.

To either or both races, Kuster will be indispensible.

The president probably is in better grassroots shape in the three other key 2010 primary states.

In Iowa, the three Democratic House members won reelection, and popular former Gov. Tom Vilsack (now U.S. Secretary of Agriculture) and his wife Christie remain a force. In South Carolina the president has the all-important backing of Rep. Jim Clyburn, a member of the House leadership and the ranking African-American power broker in Congress.

In Nevada -- the fourth of the Early Big Four -- the surprisingly big victory of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is key.

Reid built up an excellent organization in his state, which will now be at the disposal of the president. Even if some Democrats might want to change leaders in the Senate, there is no way the Obama White House would go along.

All politics, especially in primaries, is local -- and Barack needs Harry.

Comments

[TeaLady005]

08:40 AM on 11/08/2010

The DNC knows Obama has no chance for a 2nd term, and despite Hillary's assertions to the contrary, most expect she will indeed take another run for the presidential nomination.

[grf67]

08:10 AM on 11/08/2010

The dems need a better candidate. Dean or Clinton would each be better.

[polishlogician]

02:56 AM on 11/08/2010

anybody who posts that Obama has to "get tough" and "get angry" and whatever else...you've already be conned by the narrative. Truth of the matter is, O is a great politician* and has been for decades, he's got you believing that he's not even a politician but instead he's just some lost, babe in the woods of compromise...he's good...

* - first black elected to edit Harvard Law Review, won Illinois statehouse, lost to Bobby Rush for Congress, won Illinois Senate seat, beat out Hillary for Dem nomination, beat McCain for President...

[1donewrong]

09:21 PM on 11/07/2010

barak do the right thing for this country announce like LBJ that you will not seek a second term. Your unqualified and this isn't a job for OJT

[Alison McSecret]

10:47 PM on 11/07/2010

Shut up

[gwilder]

01:46 PM on 11/07/2010

Obama is still chasing the republicans. He just can't get it through his head, they will not work with him, not then, not now, and not ever. He is now making himself look foolish at all of his feeble attempts to compromise with admitted obstructionists. There is so much he can do without the republicans. They are daring him and Obama caves in like a wet blanket. I supported Obama, I worked hard to get him elected, however, he as disappointed me big time. Maybe he really should be only a one termer. He refuse to fight all the garbage thrown at him and tries to act like it will all go away or that it doesn't exsist.

[amber15]

02:21 PM on 11/07/2010

chill baby and cool down...you should take some lessons from Obama, your ego is clouding your ability to reason. NO president should act like an egotistical muscle man.

[kenhamlett]

06:04 PM on 11/07/2010

Taking humility lessons from President Obama? The man who never passes a mirror without falling in love.

[polishlogician]

02:49 AM on 11/08/2010

amen...to hear some of these poster talk, you'd think O didn't run Harvard Law Review, win the state house, lose to Bobby Rush, win the Senate, beat Hilary for the nomination, become President...

...they act like he just got out of bed one day and found himself in the White House...politics baby, it's just politics...

[hearmeloudandclear]

08:26 PM on 11/07/2010

"gwilder" - I know how you feel....I had to suppress those same feelings. We all want Obama to just tell those folks to "shove it." But we all must be reasonable and cannot succomb to the idiocy and negativity of the "Repels".

Just sit tight --- the Tea Party is already stirring the pot and the fight for power has already begun. So there will be a breather to watch the fights at least. lol

But remember - he IS the President - he must exude civility - something not known to "The Party of No", even though their refusal to support any of his programs has caused continual strife for many Americans - those without jobs, losing homes, etc etc.

"Yes we can" is not dead. You'll see. :)

[diddleydee]

01:10 PM on 11/07/2010

He needs to immediately fire Geithner and ask for Bernancke's resignation. And then he needs to appoint Stockman and Volker asap.

[p456]

11:03 AM on 11/07/2010

We on the left talked a good game about how much we love Our President. But for the past eighteen months all I heard people on both the left and the right do is slander him for not fixing everything over night. It takes nine months for a woman to give birth to a baby, but people expected the President to fix everything wrong in this country in less than two years. President Obama Tried to fix health care because it is the albatross around our necks. We are the only nation in the world where health care is a for profit business which makes absolutely no sense. The cost of health care alone is what was going to keep America underwater for decades if nothing was done about it. All of you fools out there who don't understand that make me sick.
It's not Obamacare It's national heath care If we could ever pull our heads out of our @$$E$ we might smell allot better. We failed our president we did not support him. Gays did not support him even though he has done more for gays than any president in history. Poor, working class, middle class people. We allowed the same people who want to wipe us off the face of the earth to take control of our House Of Representatives. If you think Bush was bad you ain't seen nothing yet. Whatever horrible things they do to us we deserve for not supporting our President enough said.

[capitaldysfunction]

11:22 AM on 11/07/2010

HuffPosters love their President. Not this Democrat. Not anymore.

Politics is a contact sport and if you are not willing to brace yourself and charge head on into the opposition you should leave the political arena. Obama is more suited to lecturing on campus than being the kind of Republican basher that we need.

Shut the government down? You betcha. Let the ReBubba party take it down. Once the right gets their marching orders from the true rulers of this nation on Wall Street they will relent. But with this weak kneed president ready to relent to any opposition from those scarey ReBubbas we might as well surrender from the outset.

[p456]

12:44 PM on 11/07/2010

Who died and made you spokes person for the Huffington Post?

[p456]

01:04 PM on 11/07/2010

So you would rather allow the country be destroyed by the right than give the President four more years? I would love to see what Sara Palin will do for you. Or any republican or teakkklaner.

[LiteSleeper]

01:03 PM on 11/07/2010

God you bots are sick. No matter how much this is explained to you, you continue with this nonsense. We want a president that actually tries to deliver on our goals and tries with all of his might before compromising. We don't want preemptive compromise and then watering it down even further to milquetoast, useless reform-in-name-only. You can continue with the "you want everything solved right now" nonsense strawman or you can buck up and start listening. But we're done with you bots. STOP WHINING.

[amber15]

02:16 PM on 11/07/2010

and I suppose you were there so you should know exactly what the politics were behind the scenes so that's why your arrogant self thinks you can preach to anyone who disagrees with you......pathetic.

[john649]

04:39 PM on 11/07/2010

chill dude....your starting to sound like right wingnut with all that weird nonsense your writing.

[ObamaRican]

10:17 AM on 11/07/2010

Can't post this enough:

http://whatthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com/

[ObamaRican]

10:18 AM on 11/07/2010

No offense to those who don't like salty language:-)

[p456]

11:11 AM on 11/07/2010

YOU ROCK, "GREAT POST" I HOPE EVERYONE READS IT, THE REPUBLICANS AND ALL OF YOU DISGRUNTLED LEFTIES, WAKE UP AMERICA. "F/F!"

[biabouman41]

09:52 AM on 11/07/2010

Next thing: If Obama is challenged for no good reason, his base, which is a solid chunk of the Dem base will abandon the challenger if successful, or the rest of the ticket if the challenge fails. It is a no win situation to challenge the sitting President.

[brt929]

10:20 AM on 11/07/2010

Well, it would be for a good reason, but it would be a losing strategy. He doesn't seem to know he is a Democrat, but challenging him will simply split the Party.

The only way we put a real Democrat in the oval office is if he is talked into walking away from a second run.

I don't know if Dems will come out for Obama in 2012. Maybe if they are scared enough by the Republican opponent. His best bet is a Palin candidacy.

Of course he has two years to turn everything around. If his remarks the other day are any indication, it doesn't sound like he gets it.

[Marcospinelli]

11:25 AM on 11/07/2010

Obama had no trouble risking the rest of the ticket when he worked to undermine the Democrats running in Florida & Rhode Island in this past election.

The days of Democratic voters falling for the treats, & voting for Democrats because they're the lesser of two ev!ls are fast coming to an end. Americans are realizing that Democrats & Republicans are the same ev!l.

Over the course of US history, corporations have managed to game our political system, & done it so effectively that the two-party system competes to serve corporate interests while defending that service as, "What's good for GM (corporations) is good for America (We the People)".

Democrats (controlled by the DLC) & Republicans are corporate t00Is. Like siblings competing for attention & approval (donations) of a parent, Republicans & DLC-controlled Democrats try to outdo each other in delivering for their real constituent, BigCorporations. The trick for them has been to make it seem as if they were really working on behalf of WeThePeople.

Democratic voters have mistakenly believed that Obama&Democrats were for strong regulations on banks, WallStreet, investigations, prosecutions, restitution of what's been robbed from the middle class & poor for the past 30+ years, environmental clean-up, clean, sustainable renewable energy (& that isn't nuclear), putting an end to the wars & occupation of Iraq & Afghanistan, affordable, quality universal healthcare (which ObamaCare is not), & more. The DLC-controlled DemocraticParty gives lip service to these & all populist issues, because like Republicans, the DLC works for the

[Marcospinelli]

11:26 AM on 11/07/2010

The DLC-controlled DemocraticParty gives lip service to these & all populist issues, because like Republicans, the DLC works for the THE CORPORATIONS.

[biabouman41]

09:41 AM on 11/07/2010

I hope Democrats are not going to make the same stupid error in 2012 that they did in 1980 when Kennedy challenged Carter. Carter was a decent and good person, but the Dems tested the winds, saw that Carter was heading into strong winds and decided to abandon him. This was especially true of those who called themselves Liberal or Progressive. They became scared of the possibilty of losing, so they switched horses in mid stream and ensured failure.

Had the Dems stuck with Carter in 1980 it is entirely possible he might have won. But when the public saw the Liberals and Progressives abandoning ship in 1980, they had to conclude they needed to do the same. Even if Carter did not win in 1980, with the full backing of Liberals and Progressives, the rest of the Dems ticket would have done better. But frustrated Liberals saw to the defeat of the entire ticket.

Obviously, in 2004 the Republicans had a flawed Presidential candidate, they stuck by their man and convinced enough independants to support him and low and behold he and the Republican ticket survived.
I have previously voted Republican, but I see no one, I mean not a single Repulican whom I think will be a better President than Obama.

Yes, I also see Obama as imperfect, But who else in the Democratic Party exhibit perfection?
NO ONE.

[Marcospinelli]

04:57 AM on 11/07/2010

Obama, RahmEmanuel, the DLC, DavidAxelrod, DavidPlouffe, worked their butts off to prevent real progressives getting into office. One example right off the bat is Blanche Lincoln.

The White House put its full weight & support behind Blanche Lincoln over the true progressive (& union-backed) candidate in the primary, Bill Halter.

This wasn't unlike when Obama made a deal with Arlen Specter and put the full weight and support of the Democratic machine behind Specter during the 2010 primary in Pennsylvania, trying to buy off (among other alternative candidates Democratic voters in PA might have wanted to vote to have representing them) Joe Sestak. Consider that -- Obama actively went about trying to prevent Democratic voters from choosing their preferred candidate for the US so that a DINO, Republican Arlen Specter, could retain the seat.

But more progressives in Congress means real populist legislation getting passed into law. Real reform bills, that re-regulate banks & big business. Real stimulus bills, with jobs creation, green clean energy development, and more. But that's not who or what Obama & the DLC-controlled Democrats are about.

[biabouman41]

09:44 AM on 11/07/2010

The same kind of stuff and more was said about our current Progressive hero, Bill Clinton.

[Marcospinelli]

10:24 AM on 11/07/2010

Democratic voters, for the most part, still haven't finished their love affair with Bill Clinton.

Like the real debate & assessment of Reagan that's never happened, we've never assessed Clinton's true legacy. Eliminating the social welfare safety nets, Glass-Steagle, the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, rendition, privatization, the sanctions & daily bombing of Iraq (& so much more) laid the foundation for what BushCheney did to decimate the country. As AlanGreenspan said, "Bill Clinton was the best Republican president we've had in a while."

The same is so for Obama. More so.

The DLC's pitch for not throwing Democratic incumbents out of office last week was "Do you want to return to the failed policies of BushCheney & Republicans?"

When did we ever leave them?

Obama's been continuing just about all of the BushCheney policies, and the DLC-controlled Congress has been watering down real Democratic legislation, turning it into Republican legislation.

Republicans love it -- They get, generally, what they want (or what they can build on later) & don't have to vote for it, which satisfies their base's need for knee-jerk tribal warfare between the 2 political parties (how many times have you heard Republican tr0IIs declare that a bill "must be bad if Democrats are for it"?), AND, it satisfies their & Democrats' shared Corporate Masters. They get amply rewarded with great big donations to their reelection campaigns.

What Obama's been doing should be shocking to all real Democratic voters.

[Marcospinelli]

11:03 AM on 11/07/2010

By the way, BillClinton is not a progressive. He co-founded the DLC with Al From, JoeLieberman and others.

Politicians take terrible advantage of Americans' naivete and weak understanding of the art & science of linguistics and propaganda.

When a politicians says "We got millions of people health insurance who didn't have health insurance before", while it's a true statement, it's not what Obama & Democrats were put into power to do about our failed healthcare system.

Having insurance doesn't mean affordable, quality medical care for everyone. It doesn't mean being able to get necessary medical treatment. There are no cost controls, & as we've already seen, insurance companies have been rising their rates. There are no limits on deductibles or co-pays. And while someone with a pre-existing condition may be able to get health insurance, it may not pay for medical costs relating to that pre-existing condition. The list of 'outs' for insurance companies is long, but the requirements for People to pay is mandatory & will be collected, if not directly, then through the long arm of the IRS.

Before all else, Obama's a lawyer. Legislation, contracts, all agreements (formal & casual), require precise language with set definitions. Obama's slow & deliberate speaking style is about choosing the right words to confuse listeners into believing one thing when he means another. ALL successful politicians do it, .

If Americans are going to have to learn how to listen better to what politicians are actually saying.

[Marcospinelli]

04:54 AM on 11/07/2010

Dylan Ratigan, Glenn Greenwald, and Cenk Uygur talked this week after the elections about the Obama presidency, progressives and the Democratic Party.

Watch it and see if you don't agree:

Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRpK_ANpTvM

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMUx6Bt6qVg

[infinitivesplit]

09:00 AM on 11/07/2010

I've seen it and I don't agree at all.

[FunctionOfTheCrisp]

10:39 AM on 11/07/2010

Feel free to continue to broadcast your ignorance.

[fishingriver]

01:24 AM on 11/07/2010

I saw our fearless leader today...charging into battle with the republicans over the tax breaks for the rich. Armed only with the flag of surrender he offered up whatever. This inspiring move will undoubtedly fire up the base for another term.

[rm10011]

11:59 PM on 11/06/2010

blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.........let's see, when bachmann feels entitled to being speaker of the house and is creating friction with boehner, when carl and sarah are at each other's necks and jim creme de menthe is accusing the gop of not treating christine the witch appropriately........for 2012 the GOP is doing Jerry Springer! If Obama runs, we should thank him!

[sobaytransplant]

10:03 PM on 11/06/2010

Ya know, I was gonna join this conversation and then realized how many nasty tr0lls are in here with their insults and name-calling, but nothing else to offer. Think I'll go somewhere else.