Obama Bringing Fiscal Cliff Debate to the People

     This is what he was criticized for not doing enough of in 2009 after the campaign was over. He had that huge network of Obama supporters but after the election he turned it off. This time the plan is to continue to reach out to supporters post-election.
  
     " It helped get him re-elected, so President Barack Obama is again employing campaign-style tactics to increase pressure on congressional Republicans to compromise to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff."

 

     "Failure to reach a deal means tax increases and deep spending cuts take effect in five weeks, a scenario analysts fear could push the country back into recession."

 

     "While aides on both sides have been talking, no follow-up meeting between Obama and congressional leaders has been scheduled after their initial post-election discussion on November 16.

Instead, Obama met Tuesday with small business owners, the first in a series of events this week intended to highlight his push for raising taxes on the wealthiest 2% of Americans while maintaining current rates for everyone else."

 

      http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/27/politics/fiscal-cliff/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn

 

       The point is to keep supporters mobilized for achieving policy objectives as well-not just for campaigns. That's what he meant when he said you can't reform Washington from the inside-the GOP had interpreted this as an admission of failure.

 

       http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line

 

       So Obama for America-the name of the campaign will live on.

 

       "Last week, Obama's former campaign manager, Jim Messina, said the president's re-election campaign and its grass-roots resources will "live on," most likely as a tool to promote the president's second-term policies."

 

      "Obama for America, the name of the campaign, already released an e-mail to its distribution list in an attempt to educate readers on the president's fiscal cliff argument and to rally supporters behind him."

 

      http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/27/politics/fiscal-cliff/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn

 

       Of course, the GOP is griping:

 

        "Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky complained that Obama was "back on the campaign trail" instead of "sitting down with lawmakers of both parties and working out an agreement."

 

        "We already know the president is a very good campaigner," McConnell said on the Senate floor. " ... What we don't know is whether he has the leadership qualities necessary to lead his party to a bipartisan agreement on big issues like we currently face."

 

         However, as Jay Carney points out:

 

         "This topic was perhaps the most debated, the most discussed, the most analyzed, for a year," Carney told reporters on Tuesday, adding that the election result showed Americans supported Obama's approach."

 

          "To suggest that we should, now that the election's over, stop talking to the American people about these vital issues is, I think, bad advice," Carney said.

           It is and it's good to see the Obama team gets that. I'll say it again: this is a very good time to be a Democrat. The Democrats have the people's support and they understand this. As long as they have this they cannot lose.