Capital Improvements

It's no surprise Pres.-elect Obama didn't put his capital on the line in GA. Even w/a huge turnout among African-Americans on 11/4, Obama took just 46%. Interestingly, that's also the percentage Martin has been stuck at in almost every recently poll. Martin has no obvious or natural base, and no relationship w/Obama that could make the pres.-elect's overt presence a purely political move. That's not exactly "change you can believe in".

-- The bigger question, then, is when he'll start to use this capital, and for whom. Plouffe's been in contact w/the "List of 13M" about everything from inaugural fundraising to cabinet picks. And there's been lots of chatter about how the folks on that list will influence the nat'l policy debates.

-- But what about the political uses for this list? Will it be used to reward or threaten people or institutions on specific policy battles? And what's the threshold for deciding? This is a smart team who knows to protect the goose with the golden egg. But, they've got a lot of fights ahead of them.

-- Finally, what about that donor list of his? Come '10, they'll be a lot of anxious Dems looking for some handouts. How will Obama decide who makes the cut?