Tom Perez, the newly-minted Chairman of the Democrat National Committee, just ordered all DNC staffers to resign by April 15. The dramatic move is a signal that Chairman Perez is serious about rebuilding the DNC. But staffing changes should be the least of his concerns. The biggest problem the DNC faces is the one person Chairman Perez can’t fire, Barack Obama.
Over the course of eight years, President Obama drained the DNC of money, talent and political capital and opportunity. It is a stunning example of the power of soft money in the McCain-Feingold era, in which political parties and contribution limitations have been left to wither, while Super PACs and 501(c)(4) advocacy organizations, which can accept unlimited contributions, have flourished.
The dismantling of the post-Watergate presidential campaign finance regime began in 2008, when Barack Obama opted out of the presidential public financing system. Then, after the 2008 election, he reorganized his campaign, Obama for America, as Organizing for America. Organizing for America was housed in the DNC, a move that should have brought the Obama campaign’s superior data and targeting operation to bear for the benefit of Democrat candidates in federal, state and local races across America. But Organizing for America struggled within the DNC’s party structure. It fought for President Obama’s agenda, but ignored down ballot Democrats and came to be viewed as the President’s reelection campaign-in-waiting, not a support mechanism for the Democrat Party as a whole.
Then, following President Obama’s reelection in 2012, came another shift — this one, of name and strategy. Organizing for America rebranded itself as Organizing for Action, fled the DNC, and organized itself as a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The move put Organizing for Action in direct competition with the DNC and leveraged several advantages. Organizing for Action now could accept unlimited contributions from individuals and corporations, and make expenditures supporting candidates, promoting issues and furthering political causes without having to disclose its donors. In blatant contravention of the Democrat Party’s support for campaign finance reform, strict contribution limits and complete donor disclosure, Organizing for Action gutted the DNC.
Now, Barack Obama is no longer in the White House, but Organizing for Action isn’t ceding the field back to the DNC. Instead, the group is doubling down and refocusing its efforts on anti-Trump, anti-Republican initiatives that should be the province of the DNC, but instead are diverting contributions and followers away from the DNC and competing with its message.
So as Chairman Perez attempts to reboot the Democrat Party, he can fire all the DNC staffers he wants, but he shouldn’t blame them for the poor state of the party. Barack Obama did that when he dug a channel for soft, dark money to flow around the DNC and into the political nonprofit organization that was created in his own image.
The crippling of the DNC is the most stunning example because it was undertaken by the party’s own president, but political parties of all stripes have been fighting to survive in the post McCain-Feingold era. Not only did McCain-Feingold tie political parties’ hands with hard dollar limits and convoluted regulations, it also created the opportunity for new groups to spring up — outside of the Federal Election Campaign Act’s regulatory regime — to compete with political parties for influence in the political process.
Two years ago, FEC Commissioner Lee Goodman attempted to initiate a rulemaking that would have strengthened political party committees. The rulemaking enjoyed broad bipartisan support, but it died when his fellow commissioner, Ellen Weintraub, apparently tied her support for it to another rulemaking that would have defied the Supreme Court’s decision in the landmark Citizens United case.
This year, Commissioner Goodman is proposing a new rulemaking that would reduce some of the regulatory burdens that the FEC imposes on political parties. It is an important first step toward restoring political parties to viability. Both Democrats and Republicans should welcome it. Hopefully someone is still left at the DNC to tell Chairman Perez to support it.
The author, Jon Waclawski, is a Partner at Ashby Law in Alexandria, Virginia, where he represents Republican candidates and political parties. Previously, he served as Advisor and Associate Counsel at the Republican National Committee under then-Chairman Reince Priebus. Follow him on Twitter @jonwaclawski.
Editor for
Lawyers for political leaders, influential companies and important causes. Campaign finance, election law, lobbyist regulation, government ethics.