Sometimes President Barack Obama seems to have eyes but cannot see. Fortunately, God blessed him with a wife who would watch his back. There are some very different things going on in the Obama reelection campaign compared to what happened on the 2008 campaign trail for the president. Most notably, many of 2008 campaign workers won’t be around in 2012.
Washington rumors suggest that Michelle Obama has sought to separate the presidential wheat from the tare and, subsequently, many of the White House staffers initially hired are now “fired” or retired.
The First Lady, we hear, has made it clear to everyone in the White House, everyone at the Capitol and everyone in Washington, D.C., that her husband is the captain of America’s political ship.
The idea that Barack Obama merely rubber stamps decisions made by campaign contributors, bankers, Democratic Party officials or friends of friends has been discredited by the reports of Michelle Obama voicing her opinion more about her husband’s actions and decisions.
Let me be specific for a moment.
Some credit Michelle Obama with a new political strategy that has never ever been tried in my lifetime or in my career as a political consultant.
The 2012 presidential campaign, Barack Obama is seeking to contact America’s most professional and influential political operatives. It was the shock of my life to get an electronic message from the Obama campaign asking me to send them a resume and some information about my political campaign experience. I was truly honored.
But hold your horses. I’m not going to sleep and dream that Obama would hire any Black Nationalists on his campaign team and I’m not holding my breath until any first day at work. However, I do think Obama’s 2012 approach is truly commendable and more diverse campaign staffers should be getting on the presidential campaign payroll.
Historically, the Democratic Party has used the same old people, the same old consultants, with the same old campaign strategies that have gotten them the same old losing results. Republicans, on the other hand, have had a history of hiring whoever the party thought could assist them in winning. Believe it or not, the GOP in the past has hired Democratic political professionals, black political professionals, Hispanics, Asians or whatever political operative who could help them win.
Well, even if you couldn’t tell from my writing, I was a little worried about the Obama 2012 campaign, not because of the president but because of the woefully inept and inadequate Democratic Party campaign machine.
Now, because Michelle Obama has stepped up in many ways, I feel a little better about Barack’s chances this election year.
Best wishes to all of the new persons hired to work on the president’s 2012 campaign. If a reader is interested in sending a resume to the campaign, I have some contact information that I can share with you.
In 2012, we should volunteer only for candidates who will volunteer to help us.
Lucius Gantt is a consultant based in Tallahassee and author of the book Beast Too: Dead Man Writing. He may be reached at allworldconsultants.net
Photo: Lucius Gantt
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