With the critical midterm elections fast approaching, some Democrats are clamoring for former President Barack Obama and his wife Michele to hit the campaign trail on their behalf.
While the former president has signaled that he intends to do so as the elections draw near, the former first lady is reportedly more reticent to do so, and is instead focused on ensuring everyone is registered to vote through a “nonpartisan” voter registration organization that, according to a new report, isn’t exactly nonpartisan.
According to The Daily Wire, there has been a healthy dose of praise among the liberal media for Michelle Obama’s “nonpartisan” voter registration organization known as When We All Vote.
There’s just one problem, though: the “nonpartisan” organization is exclusively composed of Democrat celebrities and former Obama White House advisers and operatives, all of whom no doubt are in favor of and working toward a specific partisan outcome in the midterm elections.
Solidly Democrat line-up
The line-up of people involved in the When We All Vote organization reads like a sort of who’s who of partisan Democrat celebrities and operatives, from the co-chairs to the board, CEO, donors, treasurer, and even the president.
The co-chairs of the organization that will serve as the public faces include the first lady herself, Hollywood actor Tom Hanks, Broadway actor/producer Lin-Manuel Miranda, singer Janelle Monáe, NBA star Chris Paul, and country music stars and married couple Faith Hill and Tim McGraw — all Democrats.
The president of the organization is Valerie Jarrett, former senior adviser to President Obama, and the treasurer is Tina Tchen, the former first lady’s chief of staff.
Pete Rouse, another former senior adviser to President Obama, is a board member, and the organization’s CEO is Kyle Lierman, a former senior policy adviser for Obama’s White House.
Calling it nonpartisan doesn’t make it nonpartisan
Politico first announced the launch of Obama’s When We All Vote in July, and the outlet certainly stressed the “strictly nonpartisan” label for the group, even as it detailed the all-star Democrat line-up.
The organization reportedly had a roughly $8 million budget, which was being raised through corporate sponsorships and foundational grants — as well as Democratic donors, which when viewed alongside the list of Democrat celebrities and operatives involved in the project, ought to dispel the notion that this initiative is anything but a partisan effort.
The organization is planning to conduct rallies and training seminars in the months leading up to the midterms, and are said to be specifically targeting young voters with their registration and get-out-the-vote efforts.
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The former first lady — who is still incredibly popular among Democrats — will likely bounce back-and-forth between her “nonpartisan” organization and making limited appearances on the campaign trail on behalf of the party.
Voter registration initiatives are supposed to be “strictly nonpartisan” and not favorable to any particular parties or candidates, and while Obama’s group may never explicitly instruct people to register or vote as Democrats, it isn’t hard to figure out who they’d prefer people vote for — and it is unlikely that they’ll be registering many voters in predominately Republican areas.