Obama Asks for Volunteers

Barack Obama's presidency completes six weeks today. He has secured passage of a $787 billion economic stimulus package and has a $410 billion continuation budget before congress. He has succeeded in getting approval for a measure to better support equal pay for women and another to expand the SCHIP children's health program. He engaged in strenuous efforts to foster bipartisanship with Republicans. These were not very successful but the public gave him high marks for the effort. He has issued executive orders to close Guantanamo, end torture and unwarranted spying, tighten lobbying rules, begin ramping down in Iraq and adding forces to Afghanistan, to submit natural habitat questions to actual scientific review, and today to expand federal support for new lines of stem cell research. This was the easy part. Now comes the hard part.

The hard part is that Obama is determined to make headway on the other important issues the country faces as well. While some, especially Republicans who oppose practically all his initiatives anyway, caution him about taking on too much, he answers that he "does not have the luxury of ignoring vital issues," particularly issues he ran on and the people elected him to work on. These include energy, health care and education. Obama knows there is a sense of urgency about the economy, but there are powerful interests opposed to changing the status quo on the big trio of energy, health care and education. For this he will attempt to reactivate and remobilize his campaign supporters and organization to bring the needed pressure on Washington politicians.

You have seen this mentioned on this blog before. The Administration has determined that the time has now come to begin bringing this strategy into play. Can a "movement" linked to a campaign continue to have an effective life after it has achieved electoral success? We will soon find out. Today Mitch Stewart of the Obama organization sent out an appeal to former Obama campaign supporters. "Obama for America" is now "Organizing for America." He spoke of mounting a continuing campaign to support the president's policy priorities, and asked for volunteers. Obama is counting on "people power" to counteract institutional power and achieve real reform in these areas.

They are all part of an interconnected whole. An energy policy that begins to break our dependence on foreign sources is essential to staving off climate change, developing domestic jobs and restoring a favorable balance of trade. Out of control health costs are destroying American competitiveness at the same time public health deteriorates due to more and more people being left uncovered. Finally, without the proper resources, emphases and effectiveness to our educational efforts the American workforce cannot compete in a globalized world. They are all essential. If you had to choose, which would you neglect? Ideally none, right?

To see Stewart's message and find out how to get involved in "Organizing for America" follow the link here.