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Posts Tagged ‘Reelection Campaign’

Obama 2012 Begins Operations: Hatch Act Violations?

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

Senior White House Advisor David Axelrod (left) and Deputy White House Chief of Staff Jim Messina (right) have initiated Obama 2012 reelection activities according to the Politico exclusive reporting

Nearly three years before a possible reelection vote for President Obama in November 2012, Barack Obama has initiated 2012 campaign activities in the past few weeks according to an exclusive report from Politico’s Mike Allen.:

President Barack Obama’s top advisers are quietly laying the groundwork for the 2012 reelection campaign, which is likely to be run out of Chicago and managed by White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina, according to Democrats familiar with the discussions.

The planning for now consists entirely of private conversations, with Obama aides at all levels indulging occasionally in closed-door 2012 discussions while focusing ferociously on the midterm elections and health care reform, the Democratic sources said. “The gathering storm is the 2010 elections,” one top official said.

But the sources said Obama has given every sign of planning to run again, and wants the next campaign to resemble the highly successful 2008 effort.

David Axelrod, White House senior adviser, may leave the West Wing to rejoin his family in Chicago and reprise his role as Obama’s muse, overseeing the campaign’s tone, themes, messages and advertising, the sources said.

David Plouffe, the Obama for America campaign manager, described by one friend as “the father of all this,” will be a central player in the reelect, perhaps as an outside adviser.

“The conversations are beginning, but decisions haven’t been made,” a top official said. “If you look at David Plouffe’s stepped-up level of activity with the political organization [as an outside adviser on the 2010 races], that is obviously the beginning of the process.”

This disclosure of the ongoing Obama 2012 campaign work in the White House with “Obama aides at all levels indulging occasionally in closed-door 2012 discussions” could be construed as a possible violation of the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in political activities. The key question regarding a Hatch Act violation would be if any of the “Obama aides” involved in “closed-door 2012 discussions” are outside of the exemptions of the Hatch Act, as such exemption covers federal employees paid via an appropriation for the Executive Office of the President or federal employees that are nominated and confirmed by the Senate.

If federal employees who are not subject to the exemption are shown to have participated in the nascent Obama 2012 activities, such activities may be in violation of the Hatch Act as non-exempt employees are prohibited from “doing political work while on duty, in uniform, in the office or in a government vehicle.” The exempt political appointees of the President can engage in political activities “provided their actions don’t amount to coercive use of the office to which they have been appointed. They cannot pay for political activities with taxpayer dollars, however.” The use of taxpayer dollars in furtherance of the Obama 2012 campaign by “Obama aides at all levels” during “closed door” discussions in federally-funded offices and/or travel to Chicago (where Politico reports Obama 2012 is based) could be violations of the Hatch Act.

Following this exclusive disclosure of these Obama 2012 activities by Politico, in the midst of the battle over passing Obamacare, the media is sure to attempt in the days to come to identify each and every one of the “Obama aides at all levels” who were engaging in such Obama 2012 activities and whether their political activities amounted to Hatch Act violations.

UPDATE: Hotair points out that Obama was just weeks ago talking about being a “great” one term President:

Didn’t The One tell us just a few weeks ago that he’d rather be a great one-term president than a mediocre two-termer? I guess he’s … planning for mediocrity, then?

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UPDATED – Evan Bayh Will Not Seek Reelection – Dems Face Tomorrow Deadline for New Candidate

Monday, February 15th, 2010

Indiana Democratic Senator Evan Bayh to announce retirement plans today

In a shock announcement set for later today, moderate Indiana Democratic Senator Evan Bayh will disclose that he will not seek reelection to the United States Senate in November 2010. Bayh’s retirement plans follow close on the heels of the announcement by House member Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) that he also will not seek reelection.

The Washington Post broke the story minutes ago:

Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh will not seek re-election this year, a decision that hands Republicans a prime pickup opportunity in the middle of the country.

“After all these years, my passion for service to my fellow citizens is undiminished, but my desire to do so by serving in Congress has waned,” Bayh will say.

Bayh will announce the decision at a press conference later today. He was first elected to the Senate in 1998 and was re-elected easily in 2004. National Republicans had recruited former Sen. Dan Coats to challenge Bayh in 2010 although polling suggested Bayh began the race with a 20-point edge. He also had $13 million in the bank at the end of the year.

Prior to being in the Senate, Bayh served two terms as governor of the Hoosier State.

Bayh points to his “waned” “desire” for “service to my fellow citizens” via service in Congress. The Scott Brown election to the Massactuetts Senate seat formerly held by Teddy Kennedy last month may have played a role in Bayh’s thinking. Considering the bankroll Bayh’s reelection campaign is carrying ($13 million) and his lead now in the polls, Bayh’s surprise announcement will surely be scrutinized by the political world for Bayh’s true rationale and the effects on politicians planning to remain in DC.

UPDATE: Ed Morrissey from Hotair.com (thanks for the link!) points out that the Democrats literally have only 29 hours from noon today to find a new candidate to file paperwork by tomorrow’s deadline for Indiana Senate candidates. Top candidates from a “reasonable bench” of Indiana Democrats:

Dems have a reasonable bench in the Hoosier State, and any of the 3 Dems who beat GOPers in ’06 — Reps. Joe Donnelly (D), Brad Ellsworth (D) and Baron Hill (D) — would fit the mold as centrists in a center-right state. Hill has said he is likely to run for GOV in ’12. Dems may also turn to ex-Gov. Joe Kernan (D) or ex-DNC chair Joe Andrew.

The Bayh news will surely lead the political news cycle for at least the next two days as the shock of Bayh’s sudden “waned” “desire” for “service to my fellow citizens” via service in Congress impacts the Democratic establishment in DC and the mainstream media while the drama of the impending 29-hour deadline for a new candidate plays out.

UPDATE #2: Speculation as to Bayh’s motives has turned to possible Bayh 2012 aspirations to challenge President Barack Obama in the Democratic Presidential primaries from the center-left. Bayh had been moving to distance himself from the Democratic health care reform initiative in the weeks after Scott Brown’s election in Massachusetts, going so far as to post on his official Senate website a call to avoid the use of reconciliation to pass health care reform:

Washington– Two centrist senators Tuesday threw up a roadblock to salvaging President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul, as Democrats agonized over whether to push forward or shift to idle until political resistance subsides.

Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., both facing re-election this year in Republican-leaning states, said they would oppose the strategy Democratic leaders are considering to reconcile the House and Senate bills and put comprehensive legislation on Obama’s desk.

That approach involves reconciliation, a special budget-related procedure that requires only 51 votes to advance. The strategy to get around Republican opponents in the Senate would be a calculated risk sure to inflame critics on the political right.

“My concern is that if reconciliation is used, that will really destroy any prospects for bipartisan cooperation on anything else for the remainder of this year,” Bayh said. “That would be a regrettable state of affairs, something I think the American public would not react well to.”

Indeed, the day after the Scott Brown election shocker Evan Bayh plainly split with Obama by stating that whenever “you have just the furthest left elements of the Dem party attempting to impose their will on the rest of the country — that’s not going to work too well.” However, also about three weeks ago, Bayh specifically debunked rumors of a 2012 run:

Bayh said he wouldn’t challenge President Barack Obama for reelection in 2012 as an independent or Democratic candidate when asked by Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto.

“I’m not running for president, I’m trying to do what’s right for my state and our country,” Bayh said. “And I’m willing to work with the president, Republicans — anybody — to get that job done.”

It would be unusual though not unprecedented for a sitting senator to challenge a president of his own party. It would raise eyebrows for Bayh, especially, to do so, given the number of meetings he’s had with the president over the past year.

“I don’t know what to think of that, except the people who wrote that have too much time on their hands,” the Indiana centrist said. “I’m focused on one thing and one thing only: trying to do a good job of representing the people of my state.”

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