Dem Groups Dumps Staffers as 2012 Looms

Desperate times call for desperate measures. And with President Barack Obama’s approval rating stuck below 50 percent for months, Democrats are growing worried that he’ll be a one-term president. So the Democratic National Committee’s Organizing for America (OFA) unit has begun dumping staff around the country to get ready for the kickoff of Obama’s re-election campaign, Roll Call reports.

“This is likely the first wave in a series of staff reductions as we transition for the re-elect,” a Democratic source tells the news service. Party officials started notifying staffers Sunday. It’s unclear how many workers will be laid off and where. But the firings will begin in hotly contested states.

OFA began in 2009 to gain grassroots support for Obama’s policies, but insiders expect the smaller group to become the president’s re-election campaign, probably based in Chicago.