Obama unveils grassroots activism group

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has unveiled a new grassroots political activism network to lobby for his policy priorities, Democratic Party officials said.

The group, called Organizing for America, is a continuation of the unprecedented campaign organization he built in his efforts to mobilize support for his White House bid and will be a "special project" of the Democratic National Committee, The Washington Post reported Sunday.

"President-elect Obama has laid the foundation to meet the great challenges facing our nation, but we can succeed only if we build grassroots support for the administration's agenda," incoming DNC Chairman Timothy Kaine said in a release.

But placing the organization under the auspices of the DNC could cause discomfort for some Obama backers who are not Democrats, while other also wonder how state and local politicians of both parties will reckon with it, The Wall Street Journal reported.

"There are a lot of questions that go into this," Doug Kelly, executive director of the Ohio Democratic Party, told the newspaper. "This could fundamentally change how our state political infrastructure operates and works together."