Haruna --
This weekend, The New York Times Magazine ran a long analysis of the 2012 election headlined, "Is Obama toast?"
It uses a mathematical formula to conclude who will win this race.
In other words, it says neither you nor Barack Obama has a role to play
in this election, because the outcome is essentially predetermined.
We disagree.
The outcome will depend on what we do every
single day between now and November 6th, 2012. And I want to give you an
idea of how we know that.
Our Republican opponents, from Mitt Romney and Herman Cain to Rick Perry
and Michele Bachmann, have endorsed the same set of Tea Party policies
that drive the Republicans in Washington: letting Wall Street write its
own rules again and giving special treatment to millionaires and
billionaires while asking seniors and middle-class families to pay for
it.
All of them would return to the failed economic policies that led us into recession.
Yet the Times piece assigns each of them a score on an
ideological scale, ignoring the obvious reality that there has been
virtually no difference among the GOP candidates -- or between them and
the Republican congressional leaders who refuse to do anything to
restore economic security for the middle class.
Whoever wins the nomination will no doubt try to appear more "moderate"
as they compete for undecided voters in the general election. But they
have all made their positions clear. And we will hold them accountable
for that.
The only true difference in this race is between their agenda and
President Obama's. Facing historic challenges when he came into office,
he has fought every day for a fairer economy where everybody who does
their fair share gets a fair shake.
He's stood up to credit card companies to ensure they can't target
consumers with hidden fees. He's stood up to insurance companies, who
can no longer deny health care coverage on the basis of a pre-existing
condition. He's stood up to Wall Street to end taxpayer bailouts and
rein in the kind of risky financial behavior that nearly toppled our
economy.
These dramatic differences between the Republican nominee and President
Obama will be crystal clear to Americans as the 2012 election
approaches, because our grassroots organization in all 50 states will be
having conversations every single day with their friends, families,
co-workers, and neighbors.
That grassroots organizational advantage is a critical factor in this election that the Times' "formula" doesn't consider at all.
More than 1 million people have already taken ownership of this
campaign. Millions more are organizing their communities on behalf of
the President, online and off. This weekend, we had our single biggest
day of action of the campaign -- more than 2,000 volunteer events took
place across the country, and more than 10,000 volunteers participated.
This work is already having an impact across the country.
We expanded the electoral map in the last election, fighting hard for --
and winning -- states like North Carolina, Colorado, and Virginia so
that the entire election didn't hinge on the results in a single state,
as it had in 2000 and 2004.
We have no intention of returning to the old electoral map. And the
organizing you're doing means we won't have to. Today, we are showing
signs of strength in states we didn't win even in the watershed election
of 2008 -- states like Georgia and Arizona, where a recent poll had
President Obama beating every potential Republican nominee.
The map isn't as friendly to our opponents, who won't be able to compete
in traditionally Democratic states because their organization won't
compare to ours. Whether you measure donors giving or doors knocked,
there's grassroots enthusiasm for President Obama that the other side
can't match -- but that the Times doesn't consider relevant.
The truth is this isn't the first time you've been written out of the
story by many in Washington and the media -- and it's not the first time
they've been completely wrong about that.
In the 2007 and 2008 campaign, almost everyone in professional politics
said it wasn't Barack Obama's "turn" to be president. But millions of
people like you took responsibility for the campaign -- knocking on
doors, making phone calls, and donating whenever you could.
You
proved everyone wrong -- not just about who was going to win the
election, but about the ability of everyday Americans to come together
and change the course of history.
The entire premise of the Times article is that you won't -- and can't -- do it in 2012.
The election is now less than one year away. No one thinks it will be
easy. But there can be no doubt its outcome depends on how hard you and I
work over the next 364 days. Right now, we're opening field offices in
key states, hiring organizers, recruiting volunteers, registering
voters, and getting ready for what's going to be one hell of a fight.
So, is Obama toast? It's up to you.
- Messina
Jim Messina
Campaign Manager
Obama for America
P.S. -- Want to show the cynics that this election is in your hands? Donate $3 or more today.
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