The political world is abuzz, wondering whether the first big ask from Organizing for America to its multi-million email list is going to produce a shift in the battle over President Obama’s budget proposal. It will take awhile to tell, of course, and the real measure will be in how Members of Congress respond to phone calls from their constituents, and indeed whether OFA can generate a big wave of grassroots pressure.
One sign that things may not be gelling quite as nicely as OFA’s leaders might hope comes in this look at daily YouTube viewership of OFA director Mitch Stewart’s video calling on folks to join the group’s “Pledge Project.”
As you can see, these numbers are pretty low. Could enthusiasm for Obama be waning at the grass-roots? I can’t prove it, but between grumbling about details on his health care plan (which doesn’t seem to be generating much enthusiasm), frustration at delays on his transparency pledges (can we let Vivek Kundra do his job?), and outright opposition rising to his handling of the banking bailout, the warning signs are growing.