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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: grassroots

grassroots stories: 20 news summaries

 Outside DC, Palin's Still a Star 

VP candidate popular, but she may have goofed with resignation

Sep 29, 09 5:56 AM CDT
(Newser) - Call her a quitter or a laughingstock, but Sarah Palin is still one of the most popular figures in the Republican Party—as admired by local leaders as she is doubted in Washington. A Politico survey of grassroots GOP members nationwide found particular support for her among Westerners, many of... More »

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Republican Party • grassroots • presidential candidates • Sarah Palin • Election 2012 • Republicans

On Health Care, Dean Gives Obama a Pain

Passed over for administration post, ex-doc plagues prez

Aug 24, 09 1:58 PM CDT
(Newser) - By now, President Obama may wish he’d brought Howard Dean into the administration, because the former doctor has become his top left-wing antagonist on health care reform, the Hill reports. Dean has spent the summer advancing his views on the topic, and though the White House is backing away... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • Howard Dean • grassroots • health care reform • public option

 Health Battle Tests 
 Obama Grassroots Group 

Organizing for America struggles to become force for policy activism

Aug 23, 09 12:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - For Jeremy Bird, deputy director of Organizing for America, the battle for health care reform takes the shape of the numerous meetings he’s had with discouraged volunteers across Wisconsin this weekend. The OFA network is smaller and underfunded compared with its campaign-era version, and volunteers feel “outshouted” by... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • Wisconsin • political activism • grassroots • health care reform • Obama administration • Organizing for America

 Obama Urges 
 Activists to
 Retake Health 
 Care Debate 

White House struggles to regain message control

Aug 20, 09 4:51 PM CDT
(Newser) - President Obama urged the grassroots activists who helped him so much in the presidential campaign to do the same in the health care debate, Politico reports. “Now come on," the president told members of Organizing for America in a conference call today. "The best ambassadors for true... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • White House • conservative • grassroots • health care reform • Obama administration • Organizing for America

ANALYSIS

Insurer Urges Employees to Protest Health Care Reform

UnitedHealth Group lays down AstroTurf

Aug 19, 09 3:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s second-biggest health insurance firm, has been encouraging employees to attend events protesting health-care reform, Talking Points Memo reports. In a clear-cut example of “Astroturf”—fake grassroots action—a memo to employees urges them to call an “advocacy specialist” who can provide talking... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health insurance • protests • grassroots • health care reform • UnitedHealth • political protest • Talking Points Memo • AstroTurf • tea parties • America's Independent Party

(Newser) - Now that he’s in office, President Obama is having a lot of trouble mobilizing the grassroots network that helped put him there, the Los Angeles Times reports. With Republican health care opponents operating like a well-oiled, talk-show-fueled machine, Organizing for America (aka Obama for America) is stuttering—in... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • grassroots • health care reform • Barack Obama supporters • Election 2008 • activists • Obama administration • President Obama • Organizing for America

Grass Roots or Astroturf? Protests Disrupt Town Halls

Dems come home
to hecklers swinging at
health care legislation

Aug 6, 09 11:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - Many Democrats' August recess is off to a noisy start, as conservative dissenters flood town-hall meetings to protest health care legislation, the Boston Globe reports. Using tactics and questions prescribed online, hecklers do their best to disrupt the events, yelling questions and shouting out while videotaping the exchange. Republicans... More »

MORE ABOUT:
protests • grassroots • health care reform • town hall meeting • right wingers • David Koch

Obama to Lefties: Don't Bash Health Care Moderates

President urges advocates to promote his health care agenda instead

Jul 4, 09 5:17 PM CDT
(Newser) - President Obama wants his liberal allies to stop heckling moderate Democrats on health care, the Washington Post reports. “We shouldn’t be focusing resources on each other,” Obama said in a phone call with a handful of senior House and Senate lawmakers. Grass-roots groups have been slamming legislators... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • Congress • Mary Landrieu • MoveOn • grassroots • health care reform

(Newser) - Evaluations of the effectiveness of yesterday’s anti-tax “tea parties” are split predictably down partisan lines, Chris Cillizza writes for the Washington Post. Republicans touted the protests, which brought out tens of thousands and garnered major media coverage, as a success. “I think something is going on out... More »

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Democrats • taxes • government spending • GOP • protests • grassroots • blogger • Obama administration • cable news • President Obama • Republicans • tea parties

glossies

 The Plouffe Plan 
 That Terrifies 
 Washington 

Senior adviser plans to turn Obama's campaign machine into Obama's governing machine

Feb 2, 09 8:35 PM CST
(Newser) - The shy middleman who spearheaded Barack Obama's campaign now plans to morph it into a powerful netroots organization, Lisa Taddeo writes in Esquire. Drawing on his unprecedented 13-million-name contact list, David Plouffe says he will soon unveil Organizing for America, a group aimed at drumming up support for policy initiatives.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • social networking • email • netroots • David Plouffe • grassroots • special interests • Barack Obama supporters • Obama administration

(Newser) - Barack Obama is determined to turn the legions of Facebook friends and Twitter subscribers that got him elected into an effective force for his administration, the New York Times  reports. He’s already begun issuing his weekly addresses via YouTube video, rather than radio, and crafted a new group called... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • social networking • Internet • YouTube • netroots • David Plouffe • grassroots • Obama administration • President Obama

Obama's Grassroots Army Ponders Next Move

Broad movement may dissipate if asked to work toward merely party-oriented goals

Nov 14, 08 1:48 PM CST
(Newser) - Barack Obama’s campaign bred a network of grassroots activists who subscribed to the “Obama brand,” not necessarily the Democratic party. As Obama prepares for office, his advisers are split, the Los Angeles Times reports: Should the powerful grassroots operation remain separate from the party’s, mobilized to... More »

MORE ABOUT:
presidential campaign • Democratic National Committee • grassroots • Democratic Party • President Obama

Analysis

 Web-Saavy Obama 
 Needs No Party 


Nov 10, 08 11:31 AM CST
(Newser) - Barack Obama has so revolutionized politics that he may not even need the Democratic party, writes David Carr in the New York Times. Parties are supposed to provide a base of support, a brand, ground troops, money, and relationships—all things Obama already has in abundance. The president-elect ran... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • social networking • Internet • netroots • grassroots • online activism • Joe Trippi • President Obama

Internet Army Could Power Obama Presidency

President-elect intends to use grassroots to his advantage

Nov 6, 08 11:14 AM CST
(Newser) - Barack Obama hadn’t even given his victory speech when the message went out to supporters: “We have a lot to do,” the email read. “I’ll be in touch.” Obama won’t disband his digitally organized army of volunteers, McClatchy reports. Joe Trippi, who designed... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • Howard Dean • netroots • grassroots • online activism • Joe Trippi • President Obama


 Victory Would 
 Vindicate Dean 

Win would vindicate screaming DNC chair

Nov 4, 08 7:33 AM CST
(Newser) - If Democrats clean up tonight as expected, it’ll be a vindicating victory for Howard Dean. The DNC’s infamous screamer locked horns with many in his party over his “50-state strategy,” but this election his seemingly quixotic venture has borne fruit, the Hill reports. Barack Obama is... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Howard Dean • Democratic National Committee • grassroots • Election 2008 • DNC

 West Turning Blue, Dems Say

Party boasts strong voter registration, turnout in Mountain states

Aug 29, 08 12:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Mountain West has historically gone for the GOP, but thanks to aggressive grass-roots organizing, Democrats believe they have a shot at turning red states blue, Politico reports. More field offices, opened much earlier than the GOP's, have boosted registration in Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada. “This presidential cycle... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • John McCain • New Mexico • Obama 2008 • grassroots • Nevada • Colorado • McCain 2008 • the Hispanic vote • young voters

 Forget the Small-Donor Myth: Big Money Still Rules

Big money men still Obama and McCain's bread and butter

Jun 20, 08 12:05 PM CDT
(Newser) - Barack Obama often talks about how much money he’s raised from small donors, even describing it as “a parallel public financing system.” But while Obama has indeed raised record sums from little guys, big donors have kept pace, writes Jay Mandle of the Washington ... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • John McCain • Obama 2008 • grassroots • campaign fundraising • McCain 2008 • political donors

 'Campaign of People' 
  Buoys Obama 

Candidate, message, technology all combined to take campaign viral

May 25, 08 12:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - Barack Obama’s grassroots campaigning is what brought the underdog to the top of the heap, the Chicago Tribune says. His camp’s goal from the start was to dodge the Democratic party’s political machine and address voters directly. “You could see in the first few hours that... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • grassroots • campaign tactics

McCain Shifting Campaign Into General Election Mode

'Regional manager' approach draws criticism within party

Apr 1, 08 6:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - John McCain plans to keep a decentralized campaign structure heading into the general election, with 10 regional managers who will make on-the-ground decisions, the Washington Post reports. The unusual move is part of McCain's efforts to turn his campaign team—one that often flew by the seat of its pants... More »

MORE ABOUT:
John McCain • Republican Party • grassroots • campaign fundraising

Dukakis to Dems: Make 'Chemistry'

Wants local 'captains' to create a personal bond over next candidate

Aug 22, 07 8:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - Michael Dukakis compares today’s political climate to the time of his own downfall in 1988, when George Bush Sr. overcame a 17-point deficit and whipped him 426-to-112 in the electoral college. Refusing to feel comfortable with the Dems’ advantage, Dukakis told the New York Observer that "We have... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Democrats • presidential campaign • smear campaign • political activism • Michael Dukakis • grassroots • Election 2008

20 Stories


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