Does Obama Want 'Left-wing Groups' To Back Off?

[babylonsister]

As it turns out, maybe not so much. ;)


http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_08/019363.php

DOES OBAMA WANT 'LEFT-WING GROUPS' TO BACK OFF?.... This Politico report is bound to raise a few eyebrows, but as was the case the last time this came up, I think there may be more to this than meets the eye.

On the same day that MoveOn.org announced a new wave of ads to pressure centrist ... Democrats on health care reform, President Obama told Senate Democrats he wished "left-wing groups" would back off.

A White House official who was in the lunch tells POLITICO: "The President discussed how the current tone and culture in Washington made it more difficult than it has been in the past to work in a bipartisan fashion. In particular, he singled out Republican Senators who are trying to work in a bipartisan fashion even in the context of a vocal minority in their party who doubt that the President was born in the US. In this context about the less productive tone of the debate in Washington, he said he didn't like to see 'left wing groups attack fellow Democrats.'"

On Tuesday morning, MoveOn.org unveiled a new set of radio ads airing in districts represented by Blue Dog Reps. Jim Matheson (D-Utah), Charles Melancon (D-La.) and John Barrow (D-Ga.).

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the president did, in fact, say this to Democratic senators, and I'm sure they appreciated it. Obama needs lawmakers to stand with him and his agenda, and it helps when he effectively tells them, "Those liberal groups really ought to leave you guys alone -- especially you, Ben Nelson."

But let's not lose sight of the larger dynamic here. There are plenty of progressive organizations and institutions -- MoveOn.org, Democracy for America, Service Employees International Union, Progressive Change Campaign Committee -- pressuring Democratic members on meaningful reform. If the White House wanted the groups to pull back, the White House would ask the groups to pull back.

Instead, we're hearing that senators -- who'd prefer not to receive the pressure -- received supportive comments from a sympathetic president about those mean ol' activist groups leaning on members to do the right thing. As Ezra Klein noted in July, that makes sense as a strategy: "It looks like Obama is semi-publicly defending the congressional Democrats whose votes he'll eventually need. That, obviously, is what Obama needs to do. But that's different from seriously putting the screws on, say, the unions attacking restive centrists."

Right, and there's very little evidence to suggest the White House is doing anything to pressure those applying the pressure, beyond saying nice things to members of Congress about how awful it must be to feel so much pressure.

—Steve Benen

[Xenotime]

1. I hope not. Progressive groups are what got him there. They help drive the machine.

[vaberella]

3. You read the post right...He's NOT. So there's no "hope" needed.

You're implying that he's finding the pressure by progressives over the top and doesn't want them around but shut out. But he's not and NEVER has been. Secondly, it's NOT progressive groups that got him where he was, it was all the American people who voted for him. Let's not lose site of that. There were plenty of Republican or Conservative groups that went his way and didn't go that way because of a progressive agenda. Lastly, most independents aren't swayed by adverts on a tv screen or progressives for that matter.

[babylonsister]

5. Exactly, he's NOT. I like to post rebuttals of politico whenever

possible because they're a stinky org. that needs to be called out whenever possible.

[Becky72]

2. It's Politico, citing an anonymous source

Enough said.

[vaberella]

4. Basically, at this point they like to quote themselves. n/t

[Bluenorthwest]

6. The conservative Democrats attack my family's rights

and so, you know, saying true things about them is just going to continue until they drop their vicious and personalized attacks against good Democratic families. It is that simple. They aggressively work against our basic human rights, so why in the hell would I pull back criticism of them, without the Conservatives giving something back in return? I mean, really, why would anyone do that? If they want more lovely things said about them, they need to go out and purchase that via political actions that earn them such good reports. If I disagree with them about everything from my own humanity to health care reform, I have no reason to give them an inch. They can buy that inch if they would like, with actions, but nothing will be given for free. This is politics. To get, you give. They give nothing, and so they get nothing. Simple as pie.

[babylonsister]

7. Senator Nelson: Obama Agrees With Me, Lefty Groups Attacking Me Are Bad

:rofl: Interpretation is everything. How to appease everyone.

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/president-obama/senator-nelson-obama-agrees-with-me-lefty-groups-attacking-me-are-bac/

Senator Nelson: Obama Agrees With Me, Lefty Groups Attacking Me Are Bad

When last we checked in on “centrist” Senator Ben Nelson, he was busy chastising a man for appearing in a lefty group’s ad attacking him for slow-walking health care reform.

Now his opposition to letting lefty groups exercise their Democratic right to free speech has taken a new turn: He’s claiming that Obama confided in a meeting with Dem Senators yesterday that that he agrees with the Senator, and wants the “attacks” to stop.

Check out this nugget buried in today’s Times piece on the meeting:

Mr. Nelson, a focus of such advertising, said he was glad to hear Mr. Obama denounce the tactic and affirm that Democrats were all on the same team.

The president “said that it was wrong for Democrats to be running ads against Democrats,” Mr. Nelson said. But the senator said he did not know if the advertisements would stop.

I’m not sure I buy this one. It’s true that a White House official has also told Politico that Obama said this. But the official insisted on remaining anonymous, so who knows whether it was someone pushing an agenda.

Again: Obama’s own political operation, Organizing For America, has been known to pressure members of Congress, Democrats included, to support Obama’s health care plan. And Nelson doesn’t seem like the most credible of messengers here.

So while it may be that this is really Obama’s position, there’s no reason to assume this is the case until we hear it directly from the President himself. Memo to Senator Nelson: It’s called “Democracy.”