Obama and FISA/telecom immunity

Written by: Diedre in Madison, WI on Jul 3, 2008 2:22 PM EDT

In the wake of Senator Obama's support for this latest "compromise" FISA/telecom immunity legislation, a number of his supporters are so upset they are considering actions from ending their financial support for his campaign if he votes yes, to not voting in November (and encouraging others to abstain as well). I am surprised at how early in the process these supporters feel they have been abandoned by their candidate. Remember, he is still only the "presumptive" nominee, and the convention is weeks away. Conventional wisdom has it that he can take for granted his base voting for him in November, rather than McCain. But maybe we could all mobilize and pressure our super-delegates to pull support for him at the Democratic Convention and join Hillary Clinton's delegates to nominate her instead unless he starts standing up for the beliefs he claimed to have while campaigning for the Democratic nomination.

The best way to move our country forward is to have a candidate that progressives can support with enthusiasm, a candidate that truly embraces the very best progressive values, then get all of us progressives out persuading the voters of this country how these values are core American values we all need to support. A Democratic candidate that narrowly wins the White House by moving away from those core values only weakens the entire process by demonstrating once again why voters are correct not to trust politicians because they'll say anything to get elected. It weakens the Democratic party and perpetuates voter apathy.

On Obama's website he has this message prominently displayed:  "I'm asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington . . . I'm asking you to believe in yours." Let's get to it. Let's start by showing him that if he doesn't represent us now, we don't have to have him represent us as the Democratic candidate in November. Such a movement would be good for him (if we get it done quickly, before he flops on more issues) and it would be good for the country.

At this very moment, we should not have to accept that, regardless what he says or does, Obama is our only choice.

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