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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPresident Barack Obama is changing up his retirement plans
President Barack Obama is changing up his retirement plans. With less than two weeks until he hands the keys to the White House to Donald Trump, the president is already making preparations to take on his successor. Politico reports that Obamas former allies are already revamping his post-campaign infrastructure, Organizing for Action, into a new sort of tech-forward, grassroots activist group to help Democrats learn from Hillary Clintons loss and counter the incoming administration.
Though OFA has been mostly quiet over the last two months and made no formal announcements, its Chicago headquarters has been filling up with new hires, including several old campaign aides, who are planning to focus on the mechanics of campaigns, from running Obama-style persuasion programs, integrating data and running paid canvassing operations. Though the first goal is designing the program for what theyll aim to make hundreds of workshops nationwide, theres already talk moving toward endorsing candidates.
Whatever Obama had previously planned for his post-presidency, he is now rapidly changing gears to make use of his high approval rating as leverage against Trump. The way he views his role is not that he himself, Barack Obama, is going to be out there giving fiery speeches and leading marches, but he wants to play a role in empower and lifting up the next generation of leaders, Jen Psaki, Obamas White House communications director, told Politico.
Obamas post-presidential role, in other words, wont be like that of either of his recent predecessors. While Bill Clinton moved his family to Chappaqua, New York, started a foundation, wrote a few books, gave some speeches, and campaigned for his wife, and George W. Bush founded the Bush Institution and took up painting portraits of dogs, Obama seemingly wants to help provide resources for the next generation of people on the left who want to fight Trump. What he also wants to avoid doing is coming out swinging directly at Trump himself, unless Trump repeals one of several executive actions made by Obama during his tenure as president, including the protection of Dreamers, the children of undocumented immigrants who grew up in the United States. People close to him want to make sure his legacy is not necessarily defined by how he responds to Trump, a source told Politico. He wants the next person to stand up, or the next group of people to stand up, and if hes continually sucking up all the oxygen for the left, theres no opportunity for that to happen. The Chicago-based Organizing for Action headquarters has also been quietly making hiresincluding several former Obama campaign aidessince the election, Politico reports.
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The liberal Establishments resistance to Trump will not stop with the president, however. Former Obama administration alumni Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, and Tommy Vietor are ditching their popular podcast Keepin It 1600 to create their own media company, Crooked Media, focused on progressive activism. Fareau and Lovett are leaving the consulting gigs for the new venture, which T.H.R. reports will include a brand-new podcast, Pod Save America. Starting from scratch wont be easy: plans to add additional editorial content, live video, and other podcasts will have to wait until Favreau, Lovett, and Vietor can build their subscriber base back up. The Obama alums will also have to learn hard lessons from the mistakes they admit they made during the campaign, and on Keepin It 1600, when they were overly confident of Clintons victory. That means less punditry and more focus on political participation and activism. "If Hillary [Clinton] had won, I think we would have kept doing the podcast as a part time job," Favreau told The Hollywood Reporter. When Trump won, we felt the other jobs we had were no longer sufficient. We needed to get back in the game. There's a lot at stake right now and, certainly with Trump in office, there's a lot in danger
Phoenix61
(17,006 posts)Great, great news.
AngryAmish
(25,704 posts)progressoid
(49,991 posts)I hope he finds a lot of strength and support once freed from the restraints of office.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)Clever and cute name.
DeminPennswoods
(15,286 posts)Just the title "crooked media" will attract clicks from Trumpists, ct'ers and various other media haters. You never know what they might learn.
sheshe2
(83,785 posts)NightWatcher
(39,343 posts)spanone
(135,843 posts)thank you President Obama!
sheshe2
(83,785 posts)yodermon
(6,143 posts)Historic NY
(37,449 posts)orange cheeto will die.
mopinko
(70,113 posts)tweetin obama, a force to be reckoned w.
Richard D
(8,754 posts). . . I'll still think of Obama as the real president.
3catwoman3
(24,005 posts)Trump (of DFT, as I call him - Donald Fucking Trump) is a pretender to the throne, so to speak.
renate
(13,776 posts)We will so desperately need a POSITIVE focus for our attention to keep us from despair. Not that we're wrong to feel despair, but it does our spirits no good. Having a positive, energetic, inclusive, INTELLIGENT opposition (as opposed to the imbecility of the past 8 years) is going to save and renew our country. I have such a good feeling about this!
Hulk
(6,699 posts)We, the progressive movement of America, need to penetrate the airwaves across the rural countryside. We need to offer some resistance to the flooding of the airwaves with right wing hate talk. It's EVERYWHERE, and we are ONLY IN MAJOR METROPOLITAN AREAS!!
This is killing us. Our message isn't even penetrating the red state blanket. They don't hear any opposing views. Only hannity, limpballs, a few other minor hate talk shows and evangelical bible thumping bull shit.
Chiyo-chichi
(3,580 posts)I just subscribed.
Shame I didn't know about "Keepin' It 1600" until just now.
Eric J in MN
(35,619 posts)and we can only quote a maximum of 4 paragraphs for copyright reasons.
bucolic_frolic
(43,173 posts)after all the Birtherism Obama was put through
whathehell
(29,067 posts)SticksnStones
(2,108 posts)ancianita
(36,060 posts)roamer65
(36,745 posts)Hopefully 4 years of Dump and Dense give us the impetus to get it done.
That amendment is just about as useless as the prohibition amendment.
Our best candidate in 2020 would be President Barack Obama.