Sometimes President Barack Obama seems to have eyes, but cannot see. Fortunately, God blessed him with a wife that would watch his back!

There are some very different things going on in the Obama reelection campaign compared to what happened on the 2008 campaign trail for the President.

Most notably, many of 2008 campaign workers won’t be around in 2012. Washington rumors suggest that Michelle Obama has sought to separate the presidential wheat from the tares and subsequently, many of the White House staffers initially hired are now fired or ‘retired!’

‘He’s the captain’

The first lady, we hear, has made it clear to everyone in the White House, everyone at the Capitol and to everyone in Washington, D.C. that her husband is the captain of America’s political ship. The idea that Barack Obama merely rubber-stamps decisions made by campaign contributors, beast bankers, Democratic Party officials or friends of friends has been decimated by the reports of Michelle Obama voicing her opinion more about her husband’s actions and decisions.

Some credit Michelle Obama with a new political strategy that has never ever been tried in my lifetime or in my career as a political consultant. The 2012 presidential campaign of Barack Obama is seeking to contact America’s most professional and influential political operatives!

It was the shock of my life to get an electronic message from the Obama campaign asking me to send them a résumé and some information about my political campaign experience. I was truly honored.

But hold your horses

I’m not going to sleep and dream that Obama would hire any Black nationalists on his campaign team, and I’m not holding my breath until any first day at work. However, I do think Obama’s 2012 approach is truly commendable. Newer, more diverse campaign staffers should be getting on the presidential campaign payroll!

Historically, the Democratic Party has used the same old people, the same old consultants, with the same old campaign strategies that have gotten them the same old losing results. Republicans, on the other hand, have had a history of hiring whomever the Party thought could assist them in winning.

Believe it or not, the GOP in the past has hired Democratic political professionals, Black political professionals, Hispanics, Asians or whatever political operative that could help them win.

I was a little worried about the Obama 2012 campaign – not because of the president, but because of the woefully inept and inadequate Democratic Party campaign machine. Now, because Michelle Obama has stepped up in many ways, I feel a little better about Barack’s chances this election year.

Best wishes to all of the new persons hired to work on the president’s 2012 campaign. In 2012, we should only volunteer for candidates that will volunteer to help us!

Excerpts from Gantt columns are now posted every week on The Gantt Report’s Facebook page; become a fan.