MoveOn demands a filibuster

[dkf]

Insisting on a campaign promise that Obama would filibuster any wiretapping bill that included retroactive immunity for the telecommunications companies that let the government listen in, Obama's allies at MoveOn are asking supporters to "call Sen. Obama today and tell him you're counting on him to keep his word."

Obama has said he'll work in the Senate to strip that provision from the House bill, but stopped short of promising to filibuster the bill.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0608/MoveOn_demands_a_filibuster.html

[bunnies]

1. What a mess.

Im glad I'm not Obama.

[Somawas]

2. If he doesn't filibuster

he shows that he lacks courage and conviction.

[Cha]

4. No it doesn't but your statement shows

you don't know shit about Obama.

[cliffordu]

7. Yep.

[daa]

25. When he votes YES that's all I need to know. nt

[Somawas]

26. Well why don't you educate me, then?

[Cha]

3. Moveon has helped Obama as

well as all of us who want him for our Prez..he will take it under consideration, no doubt.

[dkf]

6. My only problem is that he's made a specific promise in the past.

I don't begrudge him the General Election funding because trusting the GOP to play fair is stupid. And he has taken positions I don't agree with so I'm not a hardliner on that. But he made a promise and after 8 years of George Bush, I need some integrity in my President.

I just want to keep my trust in him alive and well.

Please don't break my heart Sen. Obama.

[Cha]

8. I know..you've

written to him(to let him know) and your Senators on this FISA bill, right?

[dkf]

13. Not yet. Yesterday, I was arguing that we could rely on his integrity.

Something happened to my thinking overnight though and I got a little upset. It was that article that said Nancy was pulling a fast one on us...that the GOP was crowing that they'd gotten everything they wanted out of the bill and more. Ugh. What a turnoff.

I guess that is what bothers me. It sounds like we gave them everything and got diddly squat when we are supposed to be the party in control of congress! That scares me.

I'm going to write to Sen. Obama right now.

[Cha]

15. Great! Thanks,

dkf..that's what we Can do. I know there's something going on that we don't all know about but he needs to hear our views on this, exponentially.

[Catherina]

22. That article affected me too

Putting aside my strong feelings about the bill, the timing leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. I don't forget this is the same Nancy whose first act was to make backroom deals directly with Bush when she took over as Speaker.

They know Democrats are winning and they supported this bill as CYA for themselves over their craven complicity and so a Democratic President would have that power because they wouldn't have been able to spin it after Obama got into office. That's my cynical take.

[gateley]

5. Obama didn't promise to filibuster, I don't think --

I think he promised to SUPPORT a filibuster. I was furious with him, Clinton and Biden when they didn't come in off the campaign trail to be on the Senate floor with Dodd when he was filibustering - they all issued statements they supported it, however. :eyes:

I can't see Obama initiating a filibuster. This is a political hot potato and I agree, I'm glad I'm not him.

I'm interested to see if Dodd and Feingold make any moves toward a filibuster.

[Catherina]

10. Someone's going to have to because I think the outcry from Obama supporters

who hold the purse-strings now that he opted out of public financing is taking them all by surprise.

I had these links on my clipboard so I'll past them again here. The comments on his blog from hard-core supporters are very direct and very tough love. If the Democrats know what's good for them, especially in the middle of an election year, someone better filibuster this thing.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/blog/jerrycharboneau

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/drsusannefreeborn/gG5RTr

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/monkeywrench/gG5Sjb

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/isabelsantamaria/gG5SMf

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/triciachristensen/gG5SCR

There are many more comments here: http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLJ,GGLJ:2006-15,GGLJ:en&q=site%3amy%2ebarackobama%2ecom+Obama+blog+FISA

[dkf]

16. This is what happens when you have a President who is owned by THE PEOPLE

not by corporations!

We need to beat back those lobbyists and let Sen. Obama know how we feel.

Gosh I'm beginning to love the fact that he turned down GE money. It makes him a lot more accountable to us. Maybe that's not quite the result he was looking for but its what he has got :)

[gateley]

21. Thanks for the links --

and I bet you're right -- they're probably surprised at the outcry his statement caused.

I don't understand why he just didn't say he was against it then vote NAY -- why would he come out and support it?? If it's politics, I just don't get it. It's not doing him or the other Dems any good with their constituents.

And I agree - someone better filibuster. This could be the tipping point for the Dems.

ALTHOUGH --

They do have us over a barrel. If we withdraw our support from them and the Reps take over again in 2009, then we don't even have a CHANCE of beginning to right the wrongs of the Bush administration.

Like others, I'm puzzled at why he's changed his stance on this. Kind of chips away at the confidence.

[GarbagemanLB]

9. This is the type of shit that only helps ensure he DOESN'T filibuster. Sort of like those Hillary

supporters in congress who initially tried to make a petition demanding Hillary as VP.

You don't demand shit of a presidential candidate and expect good results. Now it could be seen as him succumbing to the pressure of MoveOn, if he does filibuster.

MoveOn really should have kept their mouths shut.

[Catherina]

11. Why not? Knowing how strongly you feel about this, I'm not sure I understand your reasoning

What good does keeping your mouth shut accomplish?

[GarbagemanLB]

18. What I meant was demanding this publicly. They have now put Obama into a situation where if he

does indeed filibuster, a case will be made by the Republicans that he is succumbing to pressure from the 'far left' group MoveOn, the idiots who made the 'General Betray-us' ad.

[Catherina]

20. I see your point but I think the Republican's won't have much of a case

The majority of the people in this country don't want to be spied upon and Obama's a master with words. He'll point to his statement where he mentioned supporting a filibuster and skillfully spin it to prove he'd been planning a filibuster all along because the constitution blah blah is an American issue not a partisan issue blah blah. And a skew of constitutional scholars from across the board will be all over network TV giving him support. He can ice the cake with "people from all parties spoke and I listened".

I bet you he comes out smelling like a rose.

Obama danced with activists and organizations like MoveOn to get where he is, this is just part of the deal he agreed to. Activists don't come quietly and meekly ;)

[johnlal]

14. For Obama, Noise from MoveOn is better than Silence

And the difference between the two could depend on what he does within the next few days.

[democrattotheend]

23. That's what I was thinking

From a political perspective, this might give Obama a chance for a "Sister Souljah" moment. MoveOn does great stuff but unfortunately they have crossed the line a few times and now their name is kind of toxic politically.

[changeplease]

12. Not sure this is the best idea

if moveon demands a filibuster and he doesn't do it, its going to make him look bad. Maybe moveon should butt out.

[GarbagemanLB]

17. Exactly. Contact him privately and urge him to do the right thing.

[changeplease]

19. Not to mention that he would look like Moveon was pulling his strings

and he didn't make the right decision on his own.

[scarletwoman]

24. I wish MoveOn would butt out. I find them to be decidedly UNhelpful when it comes to

election campaigns. I got disgusted with MoveOn years ago, they have absolutely NO sense of strategy, and their tactics generally run the gamut from lame to unbearably counterproductive.

They're not leftists, they're just arrogant busybodies who think they're hot shit and like to throw their weight around. Fuck MoveOn.

sw