The American Street's Kevin Hayden has withdrawn his reluctant endorsement of Barack Obama, and yes, BO's support for the "compromise" (read: surrender to Bush) on FISA is the reason. Back in March when Kevin decided on that endorsement, I was going to comment with what you might call an opposing view, but I realized he was aware of BO's record and had simply (and perhaps justifiably) decided to look beyondn it to the bigger picture. I couldn't really argue with his choice, even though I thought it was a mistake, but I have always been a bigger pessimist than Kevin and maybe I was wrong. Avedon Carol wasn't so circumspect, at least not after BO's FISA climbdown she wasn't.
Obama doesn’t understand that the 4th Amendment is national security, and he’s prepared to throw it out for some illusory Republican-defined “toughness” because he hasn’t got the guts to actually be tough in defense of our country.
Kevin responds by unendorsing BO as sadly as he was reluctant when he endorsed him.
I’m made more secure by the liberties in the Bill of Rights. I don’t believe the terrorist threat comes close to what the USSR provided and we made it through the Cold War even while continually fighting to retain and regain our rights against the encroachments of Nixon. It remains utter bullshit that the telecoms require this immunity with our representatives sanctioning their illegality.
Sure, Obama’s better than McCain. I will still have to consider voting for him. But I won’t attach my name and expend any effort on his behalf. I consider not voting to also be a viable option. I’ve never considered it important to be on the winning side, politically. I don’t seek a ‘pure’ candidate that I’ll save my vote for. But Obama has compromised on a key point for me: defending the Constitutional rights of all.
I may influence few, but I’ll be doing the right thing.
It breaks my heart when people talk about not voting at all. Listen, even if you can't bring yourself to vote for Obama, I beg you to go to the polls and (a) vote for all the down-ticket Dems and (b) if you absolutely can't pull the trigger for Obama, vote for Cynthia McKinney. At least that way, no one can claim you didn't care enough to vote, or count you among the errors, or claim you were being a racist, eh?
FWIW, I think they're both wrong.
Kevin: Vote for BO and then prepare to fight him as hard as you would McCain. Maybe having voted for him will give you some leverage. BO is just another pol and needs to be treated that way. He's nobody's savior. He's nobody's friend. He's DLC/BD Alliance clear through and as much the enemy as Newt Gingrich. Don't let him get away with anything.
Avedon: The "down-ticket Dems" need to be separated into Bush Dogs and Democrats. We support Democrats, we vote against Bush Dogs. If the Pub is even worse than the Bush Dog, we don't vote. We harass both sides. What the FISA vote should have shown you is that there is little or no difference between Bush Dogs and Republicans. To all (voting) intents and purposes, they are Republicans. You have nothing to lose by not voting if your choice is between a pretend Dem and a real Pub because either way the GOP gets the seat.
There's nothing magical about voting itself, and nothing sacred. What matters is who - and what - you vote for. If neither of them is any good, fuck em both.
There are going to be a lot of people stuck in this dilemma. If it will make any of you feel better, Rob always has stuff you can do and people you can call and pester. Stay tuned for instructions.
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