Perspective on FISA and Pyhrric Victories

[Youphemism]

I spoke out strongly against Obama's FISA support on this board right after he announced it, and took some heat for it. I also provided some scathing feedback on the topic at the Obama web site.

Now, I'd like to point out a few things about congress votes...

By the time Obama announced his FISA support, the House Dems had already waffled. The battle was already lost. While it might have been "honorable" for Obama to continue to pound his head against that wall, it would not be the smart thing to do. The smart thing is to turn that loss into a victory, by joining with the inevitable issue winners and undercutting the Republican theme that Obama is soft on terrorism. It's a Sun Tzu thing.

Without absolving Obama for capitulating, I think it makes a lot of sense to remain calm and give him some leeway on this issue -- first, because we *know* McCain loves FISA, so even a reluctantly willing Obama is better than that. We know we don't want McCain administering FISA as President, so there's that...

Beyond that, we want to keep in mind the way things work. It was not Obama who lost this battle, but the House Democrats, who have been giving Bush his way for years. Obama is mostly guilty of using political Kung Fu, to turn this issue against his opponents. He could never have overcome that House vote.

What's more, while it's nice to keep track of who stood fast to vote against FISA, this is the world of politics -- given the large majority of people who passed it, *everyone* knew FISA would make it through. That means those who voted against it knew their vote wasn't needed. Of those folks who voted against FISA, we will never know how many might have changed their decision if the vote had been closer. That's what politicians do. If you doubt that, remember that many of the FISA No voters are the same ones who have argued loudly against the Iraq war and then voted to favor Bush every time push came to shove.

So, that politician we praise for voting against FISA could well be an opportunist, while Obama seems to be acting as more of a realist -- given that this FISA battle is lost, he's giving ground to turn this loss to his advantage in the overall election war.

This isn't the best of justifications... It isn't meant to be. But it does tend to reinforce the fact that whether this was the right thing to do or not, Obama is the smartest candidate the Dems have had in quite a while.

[Larkspur]

1. B.S. Obama is the presumptive Dem Prez nominee and leader of the Par;ty

He could have used his influence to improve the Bill from the Civil Rights POV and scuttle the Telecom immunity provision.

[Youphemism]

2. Sure... Water into wine, laser vision, correcting Earth's orbit...

Once you're the presumptive nominee, you can do it all.

What was I thinking?