Often biased, always thoughtful.

Obama already taking steps to build Democratic party, shrink GOP

I wrote recently that, despite having an advantage in the 2006 and 2008 election, the Democrats ultimately have a lot of work to do to gain the upper-hand over the Republicans when it comes to political strategy. I also suggested that, with Barack Obama as president, he could help move the Democrats toward that goal. Well, he’s not even president yet, and he’s already started whipping the party into shape. From the American Prospect (via Political Wire):

For all the talk of post-partisan “unity,” Barack Obama has been proving himself the most party-focused presidential candidate in recent history–possibly ever. Paradoxically, although Obama’s success has been more dependent on personal charisma than any recent nominee’s has, he’s been leveraging that charisma to build a broader Democratic infrastructure less dependent on the presidential nominee.

…

Historically, the Democratic Party has operated less as a strong party than as an uncertain coalition. It has been regionally fractured, racially divided, ideologically torn, and economically disparate… Rather than acting as a single institution united around a common agenda, the party was all too often a nominal nation-state in which sets of warring fiefdoms protected their properties and sought expansion.

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If Bill Clinton’s project for the Democratic Party was mostly ideological, Obama’s is mostly organizational. Clinton sought to change the party’s ideas; Obama is more interested in building its infrastructure.

That’s exactly what we need right now. When it comes down to it, Obama’s policies are good but nothing special. It’s unlikely that he will truly be able to change the entrenched culture in Washington, D.C. all by his lonesome. However, he’ll have one long-lasting impact: he will remake the Democratic party into one that is competitive for the coming decades.

By the way, you should check out the rest the American Prospect article. It’s an extensive, well-researched, and illuminating look at the Democratic party. It argues, in large part, that the Democratic party is a lot healthier today than it has been for decades. In a lot of ways, it’s right: the 50-state strategy is really helping, young adults are excited about the Democratic party, and money is clearly no longer a challenge. Here’s another incredible example about the impact of the 50-state strategy:

In June, Obama sent his chief strategist, David Axelrod, to Houston to deliver an important message to Texas Democratic funders. The Obama campaign had decided, Axelrod announced to a crowd of 250 at the downtown Wortham Center, to send 15 paid staffers to the state and organize thousands of volunteers to get out the vote, an unprecedented commitment of resources to the Lone Star State from a Democratic presidential campaign. The goal isn’t for Obama to win Texas’ 34 electoral votes. Rather, by registering Democrats, Obama hopes to help the Texas Democratic Party regain control of its state legislature, which would allow Democrats to redistrict the state’s congressional delegation for 2010, potentially winning House seats in the process. That’s not simply down-ballot organizing–it’s way down-ballot organizing, reaching into state legislatures to influence coming congressional reapportionments in order to create large national majorities years down the line.

Despite this success, I stand by my contention that the party has a long way to go. We’re not riven by internal squabbles anymore, but we’re still behind on party infrastructure and message discipline. Thankfully, it looks like Obama is already working to change that. I hope he’ll not only continue to think about party infrastructure, but think about communications and issue research. At the moment, he’s understandably focused on this election and the 50-state strategy. Once he’s in office, he needs to build the party even further. This infrastructure will allow us to continually nurture new generations of leaders, and to always stay on top of the issues.

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