Have political parties lost their purpose?

Though some Democrats fear OFA will be competing with party organizations for resources, its officials insist the new operation is designed not to win elections, but to ensure the success of Obama’s agenda. They add that the president is committed to ensuring the party’s success in 2014, including assisting with its fundraising.

Political parties are nearly as old as the republic itself, performing the basic roles of putting forward candidates for election, explaining their philosophy and then organizing people to vote for them.

But old tools like patronage jobs do not provide as much influence in a mass-media era in which fewer Americans claim a party label. For the past two years, the Gallup organization has reported a record 40 percent of Americans identifying themselves as independent…

And the clout of the parties has receded even more quickly in recent years, thanks to the 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance law that cut off their access to unregulated contributions known as “soft money,” and the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which opened up the spigot for fund to flow to outside groups.

“The law isn’t the explanation for the weaknesses of the parties, but the law has accelerated their struggles,” said one top Democratic National Committee official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.