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• <LI class=listFirst>
  OPINION
  </LI>

• <LI class=dateStamp>[size="1"]APRIL 1, 2009, 9:46 P.M. ET[/size] </LI>

<H1>The President Is 'Keeping Score' </H1> <H2 class=subhead>Chicago politics has moved into the White House.</H2>

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By KARL ROVE</LI>[/list]
"Don't think we're not keeping score, brother." That's what President Barack Obama said to Rep. Peter DeFazio in a closed-door meeting of the House Democratic Caucus last week, according to the Associated Press.

A few weeks ago, Mr. DeFazio voted against the administration's stimulus bill. The comment from Mr. Obama was a presidential rebuke and part of a new, hard-nosed push by the White House to pressure Congress to adopt the president's budget. He has mobilized outside groups and enlisted forces still in place from the Obama campaign.

Senior presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett and her chief of staff, Michael Strautmanis, are in regular contact with MoveOn.Org, Americans United for Change and other liberal interest groups. Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina has collaborated with Americans United for Change on strategy and even ad copy. Ms. Jarrett invited leaders of the liberal interest groups to a White House social event with the president and first lady to kick off the lobbying campaign.

Its targets were initially Republicans, as team Obama ran ads depicting the GOP as the "party of no." But now the fire is being trained on Democrats worried about runaway spending.

Americans United is going after Democrats who are skeptical of Mr. Obama's plans to double the national debt in five years and nearly triple it in 10. The White House is taking aim at lawmakers in 12 states, including Democratic Sens. Kent Conrad, Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu, Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor. MoveOn.Org is running ads aimed at 10 moderate Senate and House Democrats. And robocalls are urging voters in key districts to pressure their congressman to get in line.

Team Obama is also ginning up the Democratic National Committee. A special group at the DNC has been created called "Organizing for America." It is headed by Mr. Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, and is lobbying for the administration's spending proposals.

Organizing for America's first effort has not been terribly effective. It emailed 13 million Obama election workers, recruited 1,200 neighborhood canvassers, and, after a couple of weeks and more email pleas to the Obama list, produced 642,000 signatures. Having less than 5% of your own activists sign a petition is unimpressive and perhaps evidence that adding $9.3 trillion to the deficit alarms even some of Mr. Obama's most fervent supporters.

Every White House is faced with finding ways to nudge Congress without antagonizing it. But this overt campaign could infuriate members who won't appreciate being targeted by a president of their own party. They could react by becoming recalcitrant. Should that happen, team Obama will have to recalculate its efforts, especially as the public sours on big spending plans.

In March, a Gallup Poll found that positive impressions of the Obama budget dropped five points. Only 39% now harbor supportive views of it. A CNN/Opinion Research Poll in mid-March found that support for the stimulus bill Mr. Obama signed into law shifted 11-points against the bill in five weeks, with 66% of Americans opposed to a second stimulus bill.

Support continues to decline for the proposition that a big boost in government spending will lead America to prosperity. A NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll early last month found that 61% of Americans were concerned that "the federal government will spend too much money" (up 12 points from December), and only 29% were concerned "it will spend too little money to try to boost the economy."

This growing skepticism will not be assuaged by White House Budget Director Peter Orszag's bewildering response when asked by a reporter last week about increasing federal debt. He said, "I don't know what spiraling debt you're referring to."

Members of Congress should also worry about how Mr. Obama is "keeping score." He is steeped in the ways of Chicago politics and has not forgotten his training in the methods once used by Saul Alinsky, the radical Chicago community organizer.

Alinsky's 1971 book, "Rules for Radicals," is a favorite of the Obamas. Michele Obama quoted it at the Democratic Convention. One Alinsky tactic is to "Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it." That's what the White House did in targeting Rush Limbaugh, Rick Santelli and Jim Cramer. (The president's press secretary, Robert Gibbs, went so far as to lash all three from the White House press podium.) It may also explain Mr. Obama's comments to Mr. DeFazio.

^^^^^^^^^^^^ Ahem, I told you this, but you scoffed. (apology accepted)

After all, Alinsky's first rule of "power tactics" is "power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have." Team Obama wants to remind its adversaries it has plenty of power, and it does. The question is whether the White House will wield it responsibly. The jury is still out, but certain clues are beginning to emerge. "Don't think we're not keeping score, brother," even if said with a wink and a smile, isn't quite the "new politics" we were told to expect.

Mr. Rove is the former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush.

wait, hold up, I thought Obama lost the election?

the swiftboat vets were telling the truth.

Karl Rove is the Shit!!!!

 

Originally Posted by Willywoo

The question to me, is whether it is an appropriate or effective way to govern.

Appropriate? Not sure. Effective? Absolutely. Bush had a blank check for 6 years and that was no accident. Clinton and Reagan also flexed their muscle on the hill fwiw.

Now if you are asking whether this sort of behavior is in the best interest of the country, I'm not entirely sure. I do like having an independent thinking legislative branch of government and not a big fan of blank checks no matter who is in the Whitehouse.

This is how politics is played today, and how it was played yesterday. Congress will put up with this as long as Obama's approval ratings are high (ie as long as it seems that by going along with him they will get re-elected).

now norcal will ignore this post, then when it comes up again repeat his assertion that Bush had no connection, and throw in a "link?" or two. its a very fun cycle.

Kramer is such a bi-polar fucknut. He sucks. I like Santelli though.

sex sells ldo

Lol! UD in the title is the only reason I opened this post. Well done OP. But now you better watch your back!

I wish I lived in your world where 527 groups are really seperate entities and whatever bullshit spin the GOP spews is actually the truth. That place seems awesome. Meh on second thought...

Rove was involved with the Swift Boaters and he worked for Bush. p00py posted a link that shows Rove is involved and you laughed it off. Bush could have easily stopped the Swift Boaters if he wanted to. You know this.

Actually posted a NY times article before that that traced swiftboat vets for truth to close associates of Bush and Rove.

From the article:

A series of interviews and a review of documents show a web of connections to the Bush family, high-profile Texas political figures and President Bush's chief political aide, Karl Rove.

Records show that the group received the bulk of its initial financing from two men with ties to the president and his family - one a longtime political associate of Mr. Rove's, the other a trustee of the foundation for Mr. Bush's father's presidential library. A Texas publicist who once helped prepare Mr. Bush's father for his debate when he was running for vice president provided them with strategic advice. And the group's television commercial was produced by the same team that made the devastating ad mocking Michael S. Dukakis in an oversized tank helmet when he and Mr. Bush's father faced off in the 1988 presidential election.

Edit - unless your standard of proof is an admission coming from a person's mouth. In that case Clinton did not have sexual relations with that woman.

New York Times - Meh, good enough for me, lol

Politics as usual

Hope & Change, lol

"bush family machine"?
"palling around" with a terrorist doesn't make a man a terrorist? no shit? does having a friend who made an ad make you involved in that ad? does some guy making an ad who also worked on an ad a decade earlier mean some other guy was involved in the ad????

just admit you can't show that bush was in any way involved and we can move on. hell, you haven't even been able to show that rove was in any way involved! give it up!