By: centraljersey.com
WEST WINDSOR – More than a hundred area residents have joined a new local grassroots organization dedicated to supporting President Barack Obama and campaigning for his re-election in 2012, with plans of gaining a national following.
About 50 people attended the first meeting of the Friends of Obama Club of the United States on Saturday at its Washington Road office, said FOCUS founder Roy Winnick. The leadership team, a seven-member advisory council, introduced attendees to their mission and goals and listened to suggestions as the organization moves forward.
Mr. Winnick, a long-time Princeton resident, said the idea to form the group came from discussions with Jeff Brown, the regional field director of Organizing for America, formerly known as Obama for America, a Democratic National Committee grassroots network. He said he worked with Mr. Brown while running a phone bank for the Rush Holt campaign this past election season, when he began to notice public support for President Obama was falling. With a 21-year background at a New York-based strategic communications firm, Mr. Winnick saw the opportunity to boost support at the local level.
"I was personally and politically invested in the success of the Obama presidency by, what I thought, was an erosion of public support," he said. "Jeff had suggested starting something at a grassroots level to help people better understand what Obama and the administration is trying to do and what it has done already. Then a light bulb went off and I started to think of forming this club."
Mr. Winnick began laying the groundwork and recruiting members via e-mail in early December. His advisory team is comprised of volunteers on the campaigns for President Obama, out of the Princeton-based office, and Democratic Congressman Rush Holt. He said the team will continue to work cooperatively with of Organizing for America in the future as it plans to expand its membership to a national stage in next few months.
"We’re in the process of refining our strategy, our message and building a local presence and membership base to essentially have the local club be the test-bed to determine if we’ve thought about the group’s focus in the right way," he said. "If our operational model works – since what we want to do is help move the needle meaningfully in public understanding of the administration – we’d like to go national as soon as practicable."
The group is in the process of cultivating an online presence through a website and social networking sites, such as Facebook. At upcoming meetings, the group will meet to discuss President Obama’s actions, the issues and challenges facing the presidency, and to write letters to local and national publications expressing their support. "That’s what distinguishes us from other activist or progressive organizations," said Martin Bloomenthal, who serves on the advisory council. "Roy and I fully expect that we’ll work to re-elect Obama for a second term, but our first priority is to enable him to succeed as best as we can through public understanding and support."
Mr. Winnick added that new members are welcome, including on the advisory council, to share a diversity of perspectives on the issues.
"We want to be defined by who we are and what we’re for – not what we’re against," he said. "There’s been too much shouting in the public discourse, too much name-calling, and we what hope to do with FOCUS is lower the decibel level and raise the level of public discourse on the important issues facing our country."
E-mail [email protected] for more information. Meetings will be held at its office at 14 Washington Road, building 2, in West Windsor.

