海角大神

Obama redeploys his grass-roots network to push budget

Volunteers canvassed door to door over the weekend in the first big test of his ground support.

With the sun shining overhead and the crocuses poking through the grass, Diva and Lois Kenkare walked up Fair Street determined to bring President Obama鈥檚 budget battle home to their neighbors.

鈥淗opefully, we can make an impact,鈥� said Ms. Kenkare, as she approached a house armed with a stack of pledges and the aim of helping Mr. Obama win the votes he needs to pass his record $3.6 trillion budget.

In what鈥檚 shaping up to be a different kind of permanent campaign than is usually waged by Washington鈥檚 political consultants, thousands of volunteers across the country took to the streets over the weekend at Obama鈥檚 behest. They knocked on doors, stood in front of stores to collect signatures, and urged their neighbors to call their congressman.

With this canvassing operation, the Obama administration is taking traditional presidential strategies for building public support to a whole new level.

President Franklin Roosevelt had his fireside chats and Ronald Reagan urged his supporters to call their congressmen, but Obama is asking people to give up their time and engage their neighbors in policy battles usually waged within Washington鈥檚 Beltway.

鈥淲hat the Obama team is trying to do is far beyond what any president has tried to do before. Take the enthusiasm and activism that helped him win the presidency to help him win his political agenda,鈥� says Stephen Farnsworth, a professor of communication at George Mason University and the author of 鈥淪pinner-in-Chief: How Presidents Sell Their Policies and Themselves.鈥�

鈥淧eople tend to be very jealous of their time,鈥� he notes. 鈥淲hat Obama is asking is not cost-less 鈥� it鈥檚 very different from ... nodding when FDR says something you like on the radio.鈥�

The canvassing operation was put together by Organizing for America, the political organization that grew out of Obama鈥檚 grass-roots campaign and is now part of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

A mixed response

The group claims that there were more than 1,200 canvassing groups out nationwide this weekend. But many places saw fewer volunteers than expected.

In Guilford, Conn., only five volunteers arrived at Cathy Cassar鈥檚 white clapboard house on Saturday morning. She had hoped for at least 10 or 15, but the smaller turnout didn鈥檛 diminish her enthusiasm as she explained the day鈥檚 goals.

鈥淲e want to get people to support the budget, and [we are] also hoping we can get a lot of signatures so we can show the House and Senate how much support we have,鈥� she said.

鈥淲e also want to get people really excited about taking part in government again 鈥� this is just a first step to make the community and public part of the whole political process,鈥� she added.

After receiving maps of their territory, the Kenkares and other canvassers took to the streets. Their door-to-door operation got mixed results. Lots of people weren鈥檛 home. Others such as John and Barbara Wells are staunch Republicans who didn鈥檛 want to sign a pledge, although they did voice support for Obama鈥檚 goals.

Up the street, Michael Sulzbach also didn鈥檛 want to sign the pledge 鈥� at least not yet. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know enough about the budget yet. I want to read more about it,鈥� he said.

But the Kenkares had some successes. By the end of their two-hour walk through the neighborhood under a chilly, spring sun, they had collected eight pledges. Their whole group brought in a total of 30 pledges.

That number was on the low side for most of Connecticut鈥檚 canvassers. But that鈥檚 partly because it was a door-to-door operation, says Jennifer Just, the statewide volunteer liaison for Organizing for America. Volunteers who stood in front of supermarkets and other busy stores had better luck.

鈥淥verall, we didn鈥檛 have as many volunteers as we had hoped, but the number of pledges per person was really quite extraordinary,鈥� says Ms. Just. 鈥淲e were hoping for 20 pledges per volunteer, [but] we鈥檙e doing more like 50 pledges per volunteer. That was unexpected.鈥�

Nationally, the DNC says it 鈥渆xceeded expectations鈥� in several areas but it is still tallying the weekend鈥檚 results. A spokeswoman added that they have gotten 鈥渉undreds of thousands鈥� of people to sign the pledge on the Web.

Will grass-roots pressure work?

This kind of grass-roots organizing could alienate some of the very lawmakers it aims to persuade, some political analysts suggest. But Professor Farnsworth thinks that鈥檚 a risk worth taking.

鈥淭he greatest peril for Obama is if Congress doesn鈥檛 do what he wants,鈥� he says. 鈥淥bama does not want to be the next Jimmy Carter, who didn鈥檛 get very much of what he wanted from Congress even though there were Democratic majorities in the House and Senate.鈥�

But Farnsworth also notes that Obama鈥檚 mobilizing strategy could be undermined by the makeup of the current Congress, where there are only a handful of persuadable lawmakers.

By contrast, when President Reagan urged his supporters to call their congressman to support his 1981 tax bill, there were many centrist Democrats representing conservative districts in the House who felt 鈥渃ross-pressures,鈥� he says.

Today, most of the persuadable lawmakers are in the Senate 鈥� such as Connecticut鈥檚 Independent Sen. Joseph Lieberman or moderate Republicans Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both of Maine.

鈥淭hese are the people that perhaps will be the most persuadable. [A] strong performance by activists in those states will make a difference in terms of how they choose to vote,鈥� says Farnsworth. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e going to measure the success of this, you have to watch the Senate not the House.鈥�

The Kenkares have already called Senator Lieberman and urged him to support Obama鈥檚 budget. They were not pleased with the response they got.

鈥淗e says he鈥檚 going to support the budget overall, but when it comes to taxes he鈥檚 going to raise questions,鈥� says Lois Kenkare. 鈥淭hat will simply slow things up and we need to get this done.鈥�

Her husband, Diva, complains that Lieberman, like most other members of the Senate, has had many years to put his stamp on the economy.

鈥淭hese people have a lot to say now about how to run the country, but they鈥檝e had their chance and they didn鈥檛 do a good job,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey have to at least give this young guy Obama a chance to implement his ideas.鈥�