Taking the pledge

Organizing for America – the post-campaign phase of the Obama campaign – looks to be ready to roll out. You can sign up on line.

It looks as if Organizing for America, the post-campaign Obama campaign, is about to roll out. David Plouffe is asking for on-line signatures to a “pledge” to help create a national organizing effort to support the President’s legislative program.

I have no idea whether this will work, but one of the reasons I thought during the campaign that Obama would likely be a very successful President if elected was that having his own national organization would strengthen his hand vis-a-vis the Congress. So I signed up; we’ll see what comes of it. If you agree with me that the country and the liberal project both have a lot riding on Obama’s success, I encourage you to do the same.

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com