The Democratic coalition is ready to fight.
Tomorrow, liberal interest groups and unions will unite under the Campaign for Jobs and Economic Recovery Now (C-JERN) banner to pressure Congress to pass Barack Obama's economic recovery package.
Given the parlous state of the economy and the tricky politics of the auto bailouts, passing a large economic stimulus plan might be a heavier lift than Democrats might have anticipated in the weeks after the election. "Why should [Obama] have to spend political capital on a problem created by his predecessors?" said Brad Woodhouse, whose Americans United for Change (c)4 will coordinate the group's activities.
Participants include the Change to Win unions, the AFL-CIO unions, ACORN, US Action, the NEA, the Sierra Club, the People for the American Way foundation, and others. They'll provide the field capacity; Woodhouse's Americans United for Change is organizing the coalition and will produce the bulk of its communications, both paid and earned. C-JERN has met with Obama's transition team and with representatives for Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Harry Reid.
In 2005, Americans United for Change was called Americans United to Protect Social Security; it spent millions to pressure Republicans and Democrats, ultimately helping to put the kibosh on the President Bush's aspiration to privitize Social Security.
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