Obama And Michelle Ask Progressive Groups For Help Driving White House Agenda

By GottaLaff

A Me-Likey moment:

At a private White House cocktail reception last night for leaders of major progressive groups, Barack Obama and his wife Michelle appealed to these leaders and signaled that their groups would play a key role in driving the big progressive changes at the heart of the White House’s legislative agenda, an attendee tells me.

The message was that these groups would be valuable as a kind of progressive outside “echo chamber,” as the attendee puts it.

The party — which was organized by top Obama aide Valerie Jarrett — signals that the White House is moving forward with efforts to build coordination with outside progressive groups in order to drive the White House’s message and beat back its foes. As I reported recently, Jarrett is at the center of those efforts. [...]

Among those on the guest list: Labor leaders Jimmy Hoffa, Gerry McEntee and Andy Stern; MoveOn’s Eli Pariser; Sierra Club’s Carl Pope; Planned Parenthood’s Cecile Richardson; and Joe Solomonese of the Human Rights Campaign.

And in a follow-up report:

Obama also displayed a fairly intimate knowledge of what the groups had done to push the stim, such as the big Americans United for Change ad campaign.

“People were very excited -– if I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say, `It’s nice to be back in the White House after eight years,’ I could buy a nice lunch today,” the attendee adds.

One other fun detail, involving chief of staff Rahm Emanuel: “It was interesting,” the attendee emails. “Rahm came in the room and pulled Obama aside to share something. But it didn’t look all that urgent –- or at least it wasn’t bad. Whatever news he gave him got a big smile from the President and a half bear hug.”

If Prez O is smiling, then I'm smiling.