Just in from a friend who is on the President-elect's mailing list:
What IS this? It reads like some sort of tent-revival/teeny-bopper/new-age infotainment ad. Why is mybarackobama now the the new name for the Democratic Party? Is Obama for America officially operating with 2012 in mind, as I have suggested previously, hence we are receiving messages from David Plouffe in his capacity as "Campaign Manager, Obama for America"?
In the United States of America, political parties do not have Constitutional status. They are not to be conflated with the government, which, in contast to parliamentary systems, is not in the possession of the prevailing party. And neither the head of any political party nor the President of the United States is to be conflated with government either - that would be a totalitarian regime.
President-elect Obama must come to realize that these messages coming from his campaign manager, using the resources of the debt-ridden DNC, are unbecoming to say the least. As a Democrat, they make me cringe. I have no problem with patriotism, I have no problem with politicians building their base. But as a Democrat and a democrat, I shy away from messages that sound cultish or invoke the style of Sunday morning TV preachers to "encourage" everybody to "plan the next steps for this movement". What movement? Mr. Obama: you are the President now. Your job is not to lead a movement, if it ever was. Your job is to lead the country, the entire country, not just those who supported you or voted you. You are the chief executive officer of the United States of America. Form your cabinet, staff the executive branch, and lead the country. In the meantime, please note, it is, again to say the least, unseemly to have your Campaign Manager sending messages with a graphic that makes no mention of the United States but just continues to refer to "CHANGE" and displays your personal symbol. We need a president, not a guru.
Bless you for posting this! That in a large nutshell is what has given me the creeps about the Obama campaign from the get go.
What change is David Plouffe talking about? How more vague can he get?
He does not offer one actual proposal in this missive. Not one!
But the masses are supposed to rally around or rather give more dough to a symbol and a word.
The whole Obama brand IS a cult. I do not like religion or cults getting mixed up with my government. Neither, as I recall, did our founding fathers.
Posted by: madazhel | December 05, 2008 at 04:38 PM
This is frightening. I've feared all along that like the Bush Administration, the Obama people would fail to realize there is a difference between campaigning and governing. First we get Axelrod following in Rove's footsteps with an office in the White House and now this.
Posted by: vb | December 05, 2008 at 06:03 PM
Oh my gosh, Heidi, this is troubling! I am so sick of the commercials in my area for the historic Obama limited edition collector's plate I could scream. Can you even imagine the inauguration or coronation memorabilia?
Obama is only interested in being adored by the masses. He could care less about governing. What next? Obama soap on a rope and chia heads?
Posted by: Cyn | December 05, 2008 at 06:35 PM
This is not surprising -- not good to see, but not surprising.
When the DNC was moved to Chicago -- it became the Obamacrat party. One of the reasons I'm not an Independent.
Posted by: Northwest rain | December 05, 2008 at 08:19 PM
Does this mean that "we can put", Iraq, FISA, Guantanamo, NAFTA, DOMA, and "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, all back on the Hopey Changey thingy train again?
Posted by: Minty | December 07, 2008 at 08:54 PM