Obama did eventually form “Organizing for America,” but that group proved to be a grassroots lobbying dud. “If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the past four years, it’s that his list is very effective when it comes to voter turnout, but a complete dud when it comes to firing up the masses on policy debates,” one Republican official told Politico.

You’re not gonna see Katy Perry, for example, don a skin-tight rubber dress and walk the halls of Congress pushing for yet another extension of unemployment insurance.

After this November’s election, Obama once again promised not to let his grassroots campaign organization fade away, but history is already repeating itself. Obama desperately wants a “grand bargain” on spending and taxes before his second inauguration next month. Such a deal would establish his moderate credentials, solidify his past domestic accomplishments (most notably Obamacare) and wipe the slate clean so he can pursue a broader second-term agenda.

But so far, Obama’s vaunted 2012 campaign infrastructure has been used only once.