This is my first diary so I will keep it short.
First, as prologue, I want to clear something up. I have seen some posts here that strive to differentiate between Organizing for America (OFA) and the party itself, the Democratic National Committee. They are, as best as I can tell, one and the same. Perhaps OFA money is in a separate account, specific to that project (Acting as President Obama's grassroots political arm, which right now means communicating and promoting health insurance reform to the public and to congress), but the money is raised, and the program is administered and managed, by the DNC. OFA money is DNC money.
A little more prologue:
Right after the Convention in Denver, then-Senator Barack Obama assumed, as was his right as party nominee, overall control of the DNC's policy, functions, and assets. Within days, the DNC made an important change in fundraising policy, bringing the party's practices in line with those of the Obama for America campaign.
An excerpt from the mandatory close that phoners and canvassers read, or that you have to click through when you give online, says it best:
The Democratic National Committee does not accept contributions from currently registered federal lobbyists, registered foreign agents, political action committees, or minors under the age of 16.
These restrictions are voluntary, and go well above and beyond those of the Federal Election Campaign Act (or FECA--what an acronym! Or McCain-Feingold as it is also known). The change was little noted at the time--the media, as usual, mostly focused on "horse race" or "sports page" coverage of the campaign rather than examining the import of this change in the most basic function of a political entity: how they get their money.
I read "All The President's Men" as a teenager, and it had a profound effect on me. I still think "Follow the money" is one of the best things one can do, if one wants to find out what is really going on.
How do they get their money? Or perhaps more to the point, what money will they refuse to accept? We now know about the DNC's practices. How about other political entities over on the democratic side?
The Democratic Congressional and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committees (DCCC and DSCC) take PAC and lobbyist money routinely; they accept "bundled" gifts from wealthy families who, apparently, have 10-year-olds who like to spend their allowances on political campaigns; these committees accept money from registered foreign agents who lobby American jobs right out of America and over to their countries...and with almost no exceptions, candidate committees happily accept all of the above revenue streams. If they take this money, well, I figure they don't really need any of mine.
And that's been the deal-maker and the deal-breaker for me. I follow the money. So I give (rather modestly, it's true, I'm a paycheck-to-paycheck working stiff) to the DNC/OFA. I don't always agree with the president, but I do support him most days and most ways, and I greatly approve of the way he changed the business practices of his political committee. I like to reward good behavior.