Is Dean’s Legacy Being Destroyed?

Seriously, that’s the pushback that the DNC is floating. What? Ok, let’s fish and cut bait. Inside the spin is some truth—the 50 state strategy will continue and it will continue under Obama’s control, through MyBarackObama.com and his re-purposed campaign. This isn’t unique to Obama, Bill Clinton did essentially the same thing, not with the 50 state strategy (there wasn’t one) but in the sense that he made sure power was centralized under him. Rove, likewise, did not go through the RNC, but ran his campaigns out of the White House and kept the network primarily under his, and thus, Bush’s, control.

Essentially Barack Obama already had a 50 state strategy, and it was his campaign.

As for the specific pushback, let’s run through it quickly.

1) The agreement always ended this year. Yes, well, it could always be extended, too, couldn’t it?  Or you could just pay the organizers for a couple months while you work it out.  Losing experienced organizers because you’re too cheap to pay a couple months wages is penny wise, pound foolish.

2) Al Giordano is right. The 50 state strategy worked, and what this is about is Obama putting his own people into it, avoiding duplication of effort, and making sure he has control.

3) What Al doesn’t say and wouldn’t agree with is that it’s also about taking resources away from the State parties and then making them more dependent on Obama.

None of this is necessarily evil or bad. It might even be good. Duplication of effort isn’t necessarily good, and Barack did run an effective grassroots organizing project. He trusts those people more than he trusts the DNC or the State parties, and he wants centralized control.

However this is just what a number of us predicted back in May, when Obama squeezed out the independent organizations by telling the big donors not to give to them. Obama wants centralized power, under his control.

If you love and trust Obama, there’s nothing wrong with that. But it is what it is.