Obama’s grass-roots network is put to the test A group that helped elect the president is being reshaped to push healthcare legislation. By Peter Wallsten August 10, 2009 Reporting from Washington - To win the White House, Barack Obama and his political team built a vast grass-roots network of supporters and volunteers that came to be considered one of the most valuable assets in American politics. Their ambition after the election was to reshape the network, with its trained organizers and 13 million e-mail addresses, into a ground-level force to push the new president’s policy goals. But now, entering a crucial congressional recess month in which Obama’s healthcare plan faces stiffened opposition, some members of the network say that the group is still figuring out how to operate. Some also say their work has been slowed by tensions over tactics, disenchantment among some core supporters and an effective GOP resistance. In Farmington, Mo., Obama backer Craig Hartel wonders why the movement has balked at pressuring centrist Democrats who are wavering on whether to support a public health insurance option that would compete with private insurers. In Chester, Va., Beth Kimbriel often volunteers 40 hours a […]