President Barack Obama should get in and out of Friday's meeting with Congressional Democrats quickly --before they start asking how THEY figure in Mr. Obama’s future political plans.
This week, the White House abolished its Political Affairs Office, transferring its director to the Democratic National Committee. No one should think this means the administration has given up on politics. After all, the manager of the president’s 2000 campaign, David Plouffe, has just taken up residence in the West Wing as Mr. Obama’s senior advisor. He’s there to coordinate the president’s re-election campaign.
But even when a president runs for a second term, members of his Party – especially incumbent senators and congressmen – expect help for fundraisers and appearances by the president and his team. So who will coordinate those efforts for 2012? Mr. Plouffe will have his hands full with keeping the White House and the campaign apparatus knitted up (trust me on this one). So the responsibility of helping Democratic candidates either falls to a Plouffe deputy or simply ceases being a significant White House political priority.
Congressional Democrats desperate for administration support might not want to let Mr. Obama get out of their weekend meeting without first getting reassurances that he and his people will help them in 2011 and 2012.
Karl Rove is a Fox News contributor. He is the former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush.
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