Plouffe Heads The DNC -- That's Best Way Forward

There is still a window of time for David Plouffe to become head of the DNC and clearly and simply replicate the Obama for America operation that he has headed. In genius fashion.

Plouffe heading the DNC would be the best way to ensure the maintenance of the Obama Movement.

Why not someone else?

Because someone else does not have the capacity to sign a fund-raising letter that clearly states that the DNC is now the DNC for America, the location of the millions of email addresses and the hundreds of thousands of individual elements that make up Obama for America, the official Obama site that has become the precious destination of those of us who have wanted to work for Obama from day one, or day two or whenever.

Plouffe would be a guarantee of smarts, a no-drama hand on the tiller, a likely tranformer of the Obama Movememt into a Democratic Party on Steroids.

A Democratic Party that builds on the vision and hard work of Howard Dean and morphs into a much more robust operation because it has been INFUSED by the WHOLESALE MOVE of the ENTIRE OBAMA MOVEMENT ...

Where?

Under the DNC unbrella?

NO.

The DNC will become the DNC for America and its mailings will have a letterhead with a picture of Barack and Joe on it and the MSM will be told that henceforth anyone who joins up will have a blog of their own, will have the capacity to organize events, will be a recorded contributor, can have their own fund-raising page. And so forth. Ad victories-att-'em.

And when Barack has served his terms, the organization and mode of operation will be in place and they can change the photo and David can move on.

And there will be a chance it continues to be a solid model for the future.

The bruised RNC will call this scenario effrontery of the highest order. So let's nail down the argument.

Jesus instructs without regard to religion. He says no individual can serve two masters without loving one and hating the other.

This is why the furtive current efforts of David Plouffe to raise DNC money are, in a word, furtive. The problem is not just Plouffe's. It is US. We do not want to serve two masters.

And:

We know how CRUCIAL the Obama Site has been to the entire effort. It has been the linchpin of organizing, the storyteller extraordinaire, the place where we hammer out our visceral reactions to all the slings and arrows, the CENTER. And in the wake of the election it is in a sort of limbo.

I explained this a few days ago. Voila: The Future of The Obama Movement

The biggest reason why David Plouffe should march his peerless BRAND over to the DNC and take it over for real is that the alternative is STUPID.

The alternative would be to turn Obama for America into a PAC, a mere PAC, something that has the odor of politics as usual. Creating a two masters scenario with little capacity to grow or flourish.

The entire Obama Movement has been about reclaiming the Democratic Party as the linchpin of a new politics that operates PRECISELY as Obama for America has operated.

The DNC (Democrats for America) should become the template for the party.

Who will object?

The congressional candidates who can be given millions in a close race with one mini-note and a few clicks? The people who have fought for change who wake up in the morning and realize that a few million emails went to a wavering Senator and made the difference? People who confront a usability problem when they need to bookmark too many different and seemingly competing entities?

We need one simple operation to keep this thing going.

Does anyone want to try to hold, in their head:

1. Obama in the White House with all the sites that generates and

2. Today's POLITICAL operation (DNC sans Plouffe) and

3. The shell of the Obama Movement once it has retreated into being a PAC?

NO ONE DOES.

But wait.

I forgot the OWNERS of the campaign.

When you hear the mantra, we will LOSE THE LEFT, or THE PROGRESSIVES ARE RESTLESS we get to the problem with all this.

The proprietary problem.

The problem of those who have invested so much in the campaign that they think they own the candidate. They will not take him at his word. They natter. They scream. They wish to organize Barack. Frustrated, they rumble about creating a new party.

Fine. Free speech.

But we should think hard before we exchange Barack's leadership for the guidance of those who would like to see Lieberman skewered, Hillary erased and Barack's hand slapped daily because he compromised on FISA.

They should consider that CHANDE WE CAN BELIEVE depends precisely on MELDING Obama for America and DNC. That is the real game-changer.

That is how we go from three ten million. With David Plouffe at the helm.

We elected Barack to change America. The biggest change Barack proposed was that we do things bottom up. The only way to keep doing that without going bananas is to complete the program and receive from the competent hands of Howard Dean the COCOON of the future Democrats for America, an interactive operation that rocks.

Will this be a VANITY presumption that is unconscionable? Absolutely not. Everyone with a brain knows that Plouffe is the right person for this post, that he is the hands-on genius who can keep the movement on the right track and ensure that what we have done and learned is seamlessly moved from Obama for America to Democrats for America.

He can do it for six months and train someone to do the same thing. Or he can do it forever. He can even become Joe Biden and commute home to MD every day.

Maybe this is happening as we speak.

Maybe this is NOT a dream.

People of all stripes should know:

Obama cannot govern effectively UNLESS we are positioned to keep his feet to the fire. He needs us close in and personal to make sure we get done what needs to be done. This is why even the dedicated progressives who are beginning to balkanize things should be for this proposal. And why Davod Plouffe should accept the challenge.

Why this is a big issue that cries out for resolution.

This issue is generating some serious thinking.

Send a Personal Email to Stephen C. Rose

Comments

[research]

"Obama cannot govern effectively UNLESS we are positioned to keep his feet to the fire."

How about holding people who try to stop Obama's progressive agenda to the FIRE?!

The GOP are going to pull every dirty trick in and outside the book to stop progress.

[Chuck Lasker - Huffpost Blogger]

Possibly brilliant. However, one of Obama's campaign appeals was his nonpartisan attitude, his talk of taking on even the extremists in his own party. I've been a Republican for 27 years and supported Obama, and now consider myself an independent. But I'm not a Democrat. I wasn't even very pleased with the barackobama.com campaign to raise money to pay off debts of the DNC, which should not have existed anyway if they'd followed Obama's PAYGO technique.

So it would have to work both ways - the DNC gets the power of the Obama campaign, but then would have to become centrist in its interests. Not sure that's going to happen. All the Plouffe emails in the world would not get me to donate to a Pelosi campaign.

I hate to see Governor Dean step down. He was a HUGE part of this campaign's success.

[Stephen C. Rose - Huffpost Blogger]

Hi Chuck...

In most respects I too am centrist. I think Barack has managed to suggest that many notions associated with liberalism are actually centrist and that many of his own ideas are actually conservative. In other words I cannot think of a better political way to operate than to have the DNC operate as an Obama operation at least for a while. It would not be the Clintonian way nor the progressive-populist way. It would espouse a centrist reform agenda with particular commitments around the issues Obama champions. In other words guess I am saying it would work. And that the direction is preferable to some balkanized troika of things to pay attention to. One can always, as I do, say no to a particular issue or request.

[PATina]

I agree w/ what you've written... as far as the DNC. I've always felt that the Dems had great ideas... but were sorely lacking in the organization department (not to mention their collective lack of spines). However, where your idea is lacking is that there are way too many people who just want to sit back and let Obama rule. They don't want his feet held to the fire... they are waiting for him to walk on water. Also, I'm not sure he's really willing to listen to his supporters. Last... I think I read an article where David Plouffe said he didn't want to run the DNC.

It could be worth a try, though... but first you'd (or someone) would have to convince Plouffe to take over the DNC. Then, you'd have to convince the Obama worshippers that it's okay to be critical of him... they won't be charged w/ blasphemy. Next, you still may have some problems w/ other Dems... egos run wild in politics... but that may not be a bad thing (could be a good way to get rid of some of the dead weight and replace them w/ new blood). And last, but not least, hope that Obama WILL listen to what the we the people want and act on it.

[Stephen C. Rose - Huffpost Blogger]

Well I cannot think of a better way than using the Huff Post route. I understand David may need a push, unless he simply knows this will evolve naturally. There are some signs within the Obama complex. If Barack sees and understands how much simple usability is involved in creating a successful cyber-based operation I think he will pressure Plouffe to at least caretake for a while. As far as Obama folk wanting him to walk on water, I think this is best confrinted by moving exactly as I suggest. All these people have performed countless actions helping things along. At the moment this is threatened by a lack of clarity. I realize this all takes time so it may be happening as we speak.