Taking it to the Streets.

The long road to getting the Economic Stimulus Bill to the President’s desk may have gotten a bit shorter; President Obama is not waiting on the sidelines, instead going direct to the public tonight in a nationally televised press conference and then out to two public events in Indiana and then to Florida.

The President is taking his argument that it is time to do something instead of nothing directly to the people outside of the beltway (Washington DC) and hoping their calls for action will put the final amount of pressure on both Senate and House members to deliver the package for his signature into law.

While U.S Senators from both parties met Thursday and Friday negotiating key cuts reducing down the size of the overall package, and removing some of the programs that arguably did not have a direct link to jobs creation and direct economic benefit, the bill is still in the US Senate.

It is expected that there will be a final vote tomorrow in the US Senate, with some likely GOP Senate support, after a procedural vote is taken today to shut-off debate. The big problem remaining is that the economic stimulus bill that passed the House is very different then the bill that passed the Senate which now requires a conference committee with members of both the Senate and the House to come up with a final, compromise bill for the President’s signature.

The difference in the bills does not seem to be the potential big stopping point preventing the bill from getting to the President. Politics is playing a huge role as the GOP begins to find its new voice as the party of opposition. The President’s efforts to bring GOP members into the discussion for support of the economic stimulus bill has been handcuffed by the very political process of the GOP, in the minority in both houses and out of power in the White House, starting to find its voice as the party of opposition.

So, while traditional politics plays its role on the Hill, the President is taking the argument back out of the inner sanctum of the Beltway and back out to the people. His televised live press conference tonight will be one way of getting his message unfiltered out to the voters as well as his call for support and action.



Coupled with two days of public discussion in hard hit communities in Indiana and Florida, the President will be ratcheting up his own pressure on Senators and Congressional members. This weekend the President used his grassroots electronic network, built during the campaign, to create a call for action. Members of the network hosted and attended house parties to watch the President’s video asking for support and calling for action to demand Congressional approval.

Yes, in the past, US Presidents have gone directly to the people with press events, and other events taking them outside of DC to garner public support. During this economic crisis, the call for action seems to outweigh the call for debate, and the chips seem to be in the hands of the President. However, a resurgent GOP opposition would love to derail and stall the package as long as possible to demonstrate their party power and test the President’s political ability.

Can President Obama use his grassroots network, his popularity and his political savvy to get this bill to his desk for signature, as he has demanded by February 22, 2009?

Will there be political fallout for the GOP if they are successful in continuing to push back against the President and Congressional Democrats?

Only 21 days into his term, it seems early for the President to have to go outside the beltway to build support, but President Obama has had a knack for knowing when he has to reach into his tool bag to find a hammer to get things done.