The Obama campaign once again put together a political ground game unparalleled in modern American political history. The power and efficiency of the machine has been proven in battle. It is a weapon of enormous power. It would be a tragedy if it were once again to be mothballed, or worse still, disbanded now that Obama has run out of elections. If this machine were kept oiled, it could be an extraordinary force for progressive change, pressuring Congress to move left, targeting vulnerable Republicans, forcing Washington to focus on issues of concern to the Left.
It would take a fair amount of money to maintain the machine, but because no election is in the offing, at least for a while, there is no limit on the amount that individuals could give to such an effort. Surely there are a dozen rich progressives who could be tapped for a pool of one hundred million dollars or so. That is peanuts -- indeed, it is eight times as much as Americans spend each year on peanut butter.
As the United Negro College Fund might have said, but didn't quite, a weapon is a terrible thing to waste.
