Barack Obama has sometimes struggled to find his political footing since leaving office, even though he’s more popular and more in demand by Democrats than at any point since 2008. He’d been challenged by a very deliberate decision he made to steer clear of direct confrontation with Donald Trump for a year and a half, aware that a fight is always exactly what Trump is looking for. Why help him turn out the Republican base?
Behind the scenes, Obama had been much more active and forceful, meeting with top Democrats and mentoring up and coming Democrats, including most of the expected 2020 presidential candidates. Then, in September, he unleashed an intense argument against Trump and carried that forward with considerable effect through the midterms, which produced a blue wave that devastated Republicans nationally, and locally. But since then, he’s been eager to move past the Trump dynamic again and address bigger, less personal politics.
The answer he’s found to accomplish this: redistricting reform. On Thursday night, Obama announced a major shift in the politics of his post-presidency, folding his Organizing for Action group into the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.
The consolidation focuses and directs Obama’s political activity and fundraising for a cause that has become a major focus since he left the White House: gerrymandering reform.
It ends the six-year existence of OFA, formed out of the pieces of Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, which at times struggled to find footing with a clear mission. The Chicago-based group will cease to exist.
“People want common sense gun safety laws, Congress ignores it. People want compressive immigration reform, Congress ignores it,” Obama said in a call with top supporters on Thursday night. “The single most important thing that could be done at the grassroots level over the next few years is to make sure the rules of the road are fair. If we do that, I think we’ll do the right thing.”
OFA was initially set up as a vehicle to provide pressure for Obama’s agenda in his second term. The group had been ready to close down entirely two years ago, had Hillary Clinton won.
Trump’s election gave the group new…
