Did you know that Obama’s Campaign is NOT part of the Democratic Party?

Hmmm. I read an interesting article this morning about how Obama’s campaign has chosen to be a separate entity from the Democratic Party, interesting to say the least.

A few excerpts from the article at DBKP.net

Will Election 2008 be remembered as the first contest between Republicans and Obamacrats–or the first between the Obamacrats and the Democrats?

Senator Barack Obama is building a national organization separate and apart from the national Democrat Party apparatus–at least in any state where the outcome of the November election is at all in doubt.

In state after state, the Obama campaign, in a break with tradition, has opened up its own offices–which largely push Barack Obama, and only Obama–apart from the Democrat Party’s own offices in those very same communities.

Obama has, literally, hundreds of these offices dotting the USA.

and

In our weekend visit to Obama offices, we found that local and state Democrat candidates did have a presence at the Campaign for Change offices–but not much of one.

Almost all of the usual campaign giveaways were there: pencils, literature, stickers. They were all on a small table in the back of the room.

That small table represented all of the local, district and state Democrat candidates–combined. The rest of the spacious room was dedicated to Barack Obama. In almost every case, it was Obama without a meniton of running mate, Joe Biden.

The local Democrat campaign office, we were informed, was “down the street, around the corner.”

The Obama campaign and supporters will likely dismiss the separate offices as “smart thinking” and “targeting resources”. But, each office sucks up resources: lease money, campaign materials and manpower. The Campaign for Change offices are staffed by volunteers, but a volunteer sitting behind a desk is a volunteer not knocking on doors.

But in this way, the Obama campaign is sure of one thing: the volunteer on the phone in a Des Moines Campaign for Change office will be talking about Barack Obama–not the local Democrat candidate for County Commissioner.

The Obama campaign is apparently charging fellow Democrats for Obama campaign materials. At a Democrat-sponsored booth at an event in Wheeling WV, local Democratic candidates manning the location complained about this sign of Obamaization. The booth featured many local and state Democrat candidates, but not much Obama signage or literature.

“We had to pay for them,” a lady complained. “They don’t give us anything.”

and of course, in line with the fact that the Obama campaign is short on cash:

Even Obama supporters have to pay the campaign for everything in the offices. “Al”, who we spoke to at a local Obama campaign office, said he had to “pay for the lease out of my own pocket. All of the t-shirts, button, stickers here, I paid for.”

So, if Obama volunteers are paying the campaign for everything and picking up the tab for leases, isn’t this just a smart move?

Each Campaign for Change office becomes a cash cow: it not only pays for itself, it sends money to the national Obama campaign for campaign materials.

And, the staff isn’t wasting time contacting voters about the other Democrat candidates. At Campaign for Change, it’s All Obama, All of the Time.

Next Stop: “NO WE WON’T” — Sunday, 6/29, 8pm EST

NO-WE-WONT

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/NO-WE-WONT/2008/06/30/NO-WE-WONT