"What Progressives Want (and What They Should)

Nancy Scola (techPresident) :

Should the Left Root for an Organizing for America Collapse?: One of the hottest questions in participatory politics right now has to do with the future of Organizing for America, the DNC-housed organization that evolved out of the Obama campaign. It's a discussion happening on techPresident. Is OFA a president-centric monolith that rips agency and authority from the grassroots, reaching around the mainstream press to direct followers on how to pass and promote an agenda they did nothing to create? Or can OFA be a loose and nimble people-powered vehicle for expression by a hyper-engaged citizenry? Zephyr Teachout's tP post predicting the failure of OFA has generated a great discussion thread on tP, including a note from blogger Jerome Armstrong on the possibility that the DC-based DNC could function as a regional, if not state-based, body. Do check it out. But Teachout's death knell over OFA earned her a sharp rebuke from The Field's Al Giordano: "She clearly doesn't 'get' that the Obama movement was an insurgency in the Democratic party." Also on tP, Tom Watson argues that while pushing the stimulus package was a poor fit for OFA's first exercise, there's a perfect next mission for the organization in health care reform.

H/t to Ari Melber

Barack Obama