This aide said the pressure could actually help Democrats in those districts. They could either point to a groundswell of support for the Obama policy as a reason to vote for it -- or, alternatively, they could choose to score points with conservatives by bucking the activists.
"It could give them cover either way," the aide said.
Another Capitol Hill strategist, however, said some lawmakers in closely contested districts were anxious about the Obama plan, "watching very carefully to see whether or not they're going to be pressured at home."
A spokesman for the Obama campaign, Ben LaBolt, declined to comment other than to say that any speculation about budget figures, state-specific strategy or staffing levels was premature because the plan had not been finalized.
Strategists in both parties said the ideas being discussed would create an on-the-ground weapon for policy battles far more powerful than the speeches, news conferences and donor-targeting techniques traditionally used by presidents.
"No one's ever had these kinds of resources," said Republican strategist Ed Rollins, who led political operations under President Reagan. "This would be the greatest political organization ever put together, if it works."
In operating the network, the DNC would work closely with the White House political office, which will be headed by experienced campaign organizers schooled in the Obama tactics of using the Internet to harness the massive network of neighborhood-level volunteers.
Obama's presidential campaign generated a database of 13 million e-mail addresses and tens of thousands of phone bank volunteers and neighborhood coordinators. Strategists believe these assets can grow in the years before Obama runs again.
Concerns about Obama's ambitions are coming from state party leaders as well as from Capitol Hill.
"The party needs to be rooted not just around one individual, but it needs to have a grass-roots base that can survive the times and even endure past whoever may be in office," said Jerry Meek, chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party. "Obama brings a lot to the table, but, on the other hand, state parties exist for more than serving the objectives of the president and are in the business to elect county commissioners, school board members and members of the legislature."
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peter.wallsten@latimes.com
