Dems keep grass-roots movement alive

UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo. -- Veronica Cook describes her first venture into politics, registering voters and going door-to-door for Barack Obama's presidential campaign last summer, as a "life-changing experience" that erased her long-held cynicism about the political process.

Once Obama was elected, "I didn't want it to stop," says Cook, 51, of St. Louis. "I wanted to keep working."

The Democratic Party wants her to keep working, too — and it is giving her the chance as part of a new effort to harness and strengthen the grass-roots enthusiasm and financial support that won the party the White House in November.

The effort is called Organizing for America, and a big focus so far is here in Missouri, the only battleground state Obama lost. (Republican John McCain won, 50%-49%.) Obama visits Arnold, Mo., south of St. Louis, today for a town-hall-style meeting to mark his first 100 days in office. He'll also hold a White House news conference tonight.

Organizing for America, which is run by the Democratic National Committee, has held 11 community meetings across the state in the past two weeks.

"I have not seen something of this magnitude," says Patricia Justice, 60, a Ph.D. student from St. Louis. Active in grass-roots politics all her life, Justice attended one of the group's meetings here Monday.

Group leaders, who use the campaign's contact list of 13 million donors to corral supporters and raise money, say their goal is to support Obama's agenda and expand the grass-roots movement that elected him by launching community service projects on issues from energy to education.

The first-of-its-kind effort began in February with supporters calling to thank members of Congress who voted for the economic stimulus package. In March and April, organizers collected 600,000 signatures supporting Obama's budget proposal and sent them to Capitol Hill.

Now, they are hosting community meetings nationwide and soliciting ideas. Meetings have been held in 16 states. The largest gathering so far was in Missouri, where more than 200 people attended a Kansas City meeting.