State Dems dismiss talk of problems following Obama, coordinated campaign separation

The Colorado Democratic Party is strongly downplaying media reports Thursday that the decision by Barack Obama's presidential campaign not to join the state's Democratic Coordinated Campaign may lead to future problems between the Obama camp and the state party.

The Denver Post reported Thursday that "some influential state Democrats say the Obama campaign is making a fundamental mistake" by going out on their own, as resources would be used inefficiently.

And PolitickerCO's Wally Edge wrote in a column late Thursday morning that the split "could be the first step to ousting (state party chair) Pat Waak and (executive director) Sherry Jackson."

But Waak told a PolitickerCO reporter Thursday that she is "meeting constantly with the Obama folks" and still controls several bank accounts used to fund both the Obama campaign and the coordinated campaign.

"I think (the Denver Post article) is wrong in the implication that there's not going to be any cooperation and coordination between the coordinated and the Obama campaign," Waak said, adding she met with Obama campaign representatives earlier on Thursday. "They're all going to be working out of the state party, so we will all be working together."

Both Waak and state Democratic Party spokesperson Lauren Rose, though, said they didn't want to comment on the potential effects of a split, as the state party and Obama campaign hasn't yet worked out the specifics about how the two groups will coordinate activities.

"What's happening is we're all trying to decide how these pieces work together," Waak said. "We don't have all the details on this yet. We're meeting constantly and trying to work on them."

Rose did say that fears expressed in the Post article that separate campaigns will result in redundancies and wasted resources was unwarranted.

As for Wally Edge's assertion that the Obama camp's decision to go it alone could jeopardize Waak's job as party chair, Waak dismissed it as "totally false."

But Waak said the decision by the Obama campaign to work on its own isn't unique to Colorado.

An Obama spokesperson supported Waak's characterization of the situation, but a promised statement on the Obama campaign's position was not sent Thursday evening.

The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder wrote earlier this month that the Obama campaign in Iowa will also operate at arm's length from state party efforts.

"It makes total sense for the most successful, most well-funded, most fully integrated, best-prepared presidential campaign ever to take control of the process," Ambinder wrote. "If state parties and interest groups resist, the Obama campaign will simply move around them and won't bat an eyelid."

"Same thing in a state like Colorado, where the campaign already has the infrastructure to put together a general election target list, find those voters, and turn them out without having to rely on the state party," Ambinder concluded.