The election may be over, but grassroots Obama supporters are far from finished.
President Obama will keep taking his policy plans to the court of public opinion, this time with his campaign-organization-turned-non-profit, Organizing for Action. Starting at the beginning of the president's new term Sunday, Obama for America will make an unprecedented transition from acting solely as a campaign organization to becoming a 501(c)4 group. Organizers say the group will continue to tap into grassroots enthusiasm and the campaign's vast voter database in order to increase support for the president’s policy initiatives on issues such as gun control, immigration, global warming, and climate change.
Stephanie Cutter, chair of the Presidential Inaugural Committee Board of Directors and former deputy campaign manager for President Obama’s 2012 campaign, said that the metamorphosis of OFA will reflect a familiar theme from the campaign trail: coming together to continue moving forward.
"Organizing for Action is going to be a very effective tool to organize people all over the country for the president’s agenda,” Cutter told Andrea Mitchell. “Whether it’s gun control, climate change, immigration, these are things that people voted for and they want to keep working on them."
But along with the issues the administration will be working on is the question of who will be advising the president. In recent weeks, the string of white men appointed to key Cabinet positions has brought criticism regarding the lack of diversity in the high-ranking members of the White House. Yet Cutter assures, in the same way that Valerie Jarrett did, that women will get their due. Noting that nominations are not even a quarter of the way through, Cutter advised critics: "Just wait. Just wait and see how this all unfolds...I have a strong suspicion that strong women will be part of it."