"Democrat[s] for A Day:" Obama's National Stratagem

"Democrat for a Day" is not a slogan solely invented by an overzealous Obama precinct captain in Reno, Nevada; it is a phrase used by the official Obama campaign in its attempt to dilute the influence loyal Democrats will have on the Democratic Primary in at least two states.

Reno precinct captain Bob Buchanan states in a recent ABC News report that his fliers were produced independent of the Obama campaign. But the evidence militates against Bob Buchanan's claim.  Diarists here and elsewhere already discussed the use of the cynical shibboleth in the following flier circulated by Bob Buchanan, a precinct captain in Reno, Nevada:

"You Can Be A Democrat For One Day," the flier declares, paraphrasing the watchwords "Democrat[s] for a Day" found in the fifth and twelfth paragraphs of this letter circulated by the Obama Florida 2008's "Obamacrat" campaign.  I quote:

WANNA BECOME AN OBAMACRAT?!!!
By Obama Florida 2008
Published: April 24, 2007

Tens of thousands of people in Florida are already supporting Barack Obama for president.

But, you know what? You won't be able to vote for him in the all-important Florida Primary next February unless you are a registered Democrat, or unless you re-register as a Democrat.

See, Florida law mandates a "closed primary" for presidential primaries. Even if you're an independent, these archaic laws will not let you vote in either major party primary.

Put another way -- you have been legally disenfranchised.

That's why "Democrat for a Day" was launched this spring by ObamaFlorida2008. Using the official forms provided by all Supervisors of Elections offices, you may re-register as a Democrat for that one day -- when the primary is likely to be held -- on February 5, 2008. You must do so before the end of 2007, to make sure it is done 30 days before the primary.

But this is not about some "hard sell" to recruit voters to become permanent Democrats. Not at all. After the primary, you may re-register back to the
Republican or Libertarian parties, or revert to your previous status as an Independent! There will be plenty of time before the general election in November 2008.

ObamaFlorida2008 recognizes and respects all citizens who have varying points of view. We just want to make it make it possible to vote for Barack Obama in the primary -- or for that matter -- anyone you wish.

Duval, Hillsbrough, Pinellas, Alachua, Leon, Volusia, Nassau, Clay, Okaloosa, Polk and St. Johns voters are already re-registering in the "Democrat for a Day" program.

Within weeks, it will be expanded to all 67 counties in Florida.

And, from the standpoint of the Obama campaign, it is a win-win situation! For example, how many Republicans do you think will re-register to vote for our respected opponent Hillary Clinton? That's right ... virtually no one.

But we're finding that up to 20 percent of Obama supporters are registered Republicans.

In fact, during the first couple of weeks in April, some 150 Republicans indeed became "Democrats for a Day." You might call them "Obamacrats!"

And this is without any official launch of the program.

The goal is 100,000 new voters for Obama in Florida by the end of 2007.

For more information, contact your local Obama groups in the counties mentioned, and if you are in a different county, make sure they get it started!

For more information, call ObamaFlorida2008 Director of Voter Registration Aaron Hoffman at 904 879 2904, or email him at ahoffman@obamaflorida2008.com.

In the Tampa-St. Pete area, contact Tom Squires of the Tampa Bay O-Train through the national Obama website (BarackObama.com).

You may also call 904 379 5469.

Get involved. Become an Obamacrat! Get your friends and other supporters to do so as well!

And we'll see you at the polls for the Florida Priimary on February 5, 2008!

Because the Nevada flier and the Florida letter rely on the same catchphrases and on the same electoral stratagem, I question Reno precinct captain Bob Buchanan's statement that his flier is an independent attempt to mobilize Republican and Independent support for Barack Obama.  Why is his flier similar to the letter Obama Florida 2008 circulated in April?  Why are the same terms and methods deployed in two different states?  And why is Hillary mentioned in both pieces of campaign literature?  Are we to view these publications as unrelated efforts of impetuous supporters loosely tied to a decentralized campaign apparatus, or are these publications products of a coordinated strategy orchestrated by an elaborate campaign bureaucracy that refuses to assume any accountability for its various Obamacratic actions?  

Tags: 2008, Barack Obama, campaign fliers, Democrats, Florida, Hillary Clinton, Nevada, Presidency, Primaries (all tags)

Comments

18 Comments

Re: Democrat for A Day: A National Theme of the Ob

Very interesting.

by Steve M 2008-01-14 01:02PM | 0 recs
OMG!

Are the Obama folks willing to go that low to game the system??!! How disgusting!

by atdleft 2008-01-14 01:03PM | 0 recs
it's their base?

It's not playing, Hillary's polls are still high and she's getting endorsements.  I wish he'd lose with dignity and not call to mind dirty tricks. That's what we expect from the other side, I'll back whoever wins but it'll be much sweeter if the candidate wins without this kind of stuff, it'll be more fun to vote the the real winner.  I'm sick enough of the Bush nastiness to want to court cynical Republicans who hate Hillary just to give a brief nomination edge to one of ours.  

by anna shane 2008-01-14 01:11PM | 0 recs
Republicans: Obama's base.

Of course not but if he can't win without dragging over the Hillary haters from Redstate what does it tell you about him. I thought Axelrod was losing his mind going the race route but this is even more stupid.  

by ottovbvs 2008-01-14 01:26PM | 0 recs
I'm an Obama supporter

But I don't like this strategy.

It's nowhere near as bad as Clinton appropriating Rove's 2004 tactics, but it is a bit unseemly in my opinion.  

by highgrade 2008-01-14 01:36PM | 0 recs
This effort to undermine

the Democratic Party stalwarts is despicable.  I won't forget it if he runs again in the future.

by Beltway Dem 2008-01-14 01:47PM | 0 recs
Re: This effort to undermine

Would you vote for him in the General Election after he wins the primary?

by Pravin 2008-01-14 11:41PM | 0 recs
Re: This effort to undermine

Nope never will vote for him because of this.  Disgusting.

by Sleepless in Virginia 2008-02-25 03:00AM | 0 recs
Re: "Democrat for A Day:"

good work.  I wonder if the Clinton campaign is aware of this behavior.

by MollieBradford 2008-01-14 01:50PM | 0 recs
Re: "Democrat[s] for A Day:"
Isn't it nice that it says they are not trying to get voters to become permanent Democrats. So much for the big tent. It isn't about making the democratic party stronger it's about creating his own party...Obamacrats indeed! Disgusting. I don't know who Obama is but he sure isn't a Democrat and I do not want him representing me.
by americanincanada 2008-01-14 02:19PM | 0 recs
Re: "Democrat[s] for A Day

Well, this is another dumb thing by the Obama campaign. They've made a lot of stumbles lately and I guess you can put down one more. This is what happens when you have never run a tough campaign. You are begging people to vote for you.

by Ga6thDem 2008-01-14 02:22PM | 0 recs
Obama is a desperate SOB

What that flyer is "dog whistling" is hey, Republican, don't like Hillary, wouldn't vote for me or a Democrat in a general in a million years?  So what.  Stick it to Hillary.

Obama is scum.

by dpANDREWS 2008-01-14 02:35PM | 0 recs
Enjoy it while it lasts Obama.

Obama is a disgusting pig. Obama's day of reckoning is coming.

by lonnette33 2008-01-14 02:48PM | 0 recs
Re: Enjoy it while it lasts Obama.

Calm down.

by mcdave 2008-01-14 05:15PM | 0 recs
What do we need parties for?

I say we should just have movements led by charismatic leaders.

What could go wrong?

by lambertstrether 2008-01-14 08:02PM | 0 recs
Re: "Democrat[s] for A Day:" Obama's

Bill Clinton had no problem with Lieberman using an even more extreme strategy to beat the winner of the Democratic Primary in CT. Well, how does he like it now?

By the way, there was already a diary on this and Thruthteller already had his say with a comment  on that. Yet we get another rec diary. You guys recommend everything.

by Pravin 2008-01-14 11:40PM | 0 recs
Florida Google cache url

People are brushing off the Nevada flyer as being an isolated thing, unknown to the Real Campaign, and quickly stopped. But www.obamaflorida2008.com has had this thing up since April. Their home page now just has a "performing updates" message, so better archive their "Dem for a Day" before it disappears. I'm circulating the Google cache which will take longer to disappear. Here are tinyurls for the Google cache:

http://tinyurl.com/24pvlg

http://preview.tinyurl.com/24pvlg

Quoting from the Google cache "as retrieved on Nov 30, 2007 02:11:00 GMT"
<I>
WANNA BECOME AN OBAMACRAT?!!!
By Obama Florida 2008
Published: April 24, 2007
....
But this is not about some "hard sell" to recruit voters to become permanent Democrats. Not at all. After the primary, you may re-register back to the
Republican or Libertarian parties, or revert to your previous status as an Independent!
....
But we're finding that up to 20 percent of Obama supporters are registered Republicans.
In fact, during the first couple of weeks in April, some 150 Republicans indeed became "Democrats for a Day." You might call them "Obamacrats!"</I>

by 1950democrat 2008-01-16 01:50AM | 0 recs
Now Obama's done an expensive video

Here's a video from the Obama campaign promoting their "Democrat for a Day" scheme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUE4Kp0YE Rs

This is very professional, expensively produced video.

SURE Obama himself didn't know his campaign was doing this stuff.

A paper flyer in Nevada might have been dismissed as an individual mistake ... a webpage in Florida (up from April till Nov and still in a Google cache at http://tinyurl.com/24pvlg ) ... might have been some kind of abberation....

But this expensive video? Will Saint Obama disavow all knowledge of THIS?

by 1950democrat 2008-01-20 10:06PM | 0 recs

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