| June 25, 2008 Huff -- Only weeks into
the general election campaign and already a notable tension is
beginning to materialize within the Democratic Party. At question is
Sen. Barack Obama's relationship with the progressive netroots, the
online community that helped aid the Senator's rise to the
presidential nomination, but has since seemingly played second
fiddle in terms of courted constituencies.
Obama's decision to embrace a compromise on FISA legislation -- a
virtual slap in the face to some progressive bloggers demanding no
legal immunity for telecommunications companies -- was the catalyst
of the recent chatter. Other concerns arose days prior when Obama
cut an advertisement on behalf of a conservative southern Democrat
whose primary challenger was favored by the liberal blogosphere.
But for some progressive activists, the issue is not simply one of
policy, but a concern that Obama's willingness to snub their
political wishes is far more endemic.
"You can see it with FISA. He really doesn't feel that much kinship
with the priorities of the netroots and I don't think he has made
any secret of that," said Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake. "I have to
say he is very consistent. He has gone outside the netroots for his
strategy... People who feel betrayed right now, I'm not sure why,
because it is extremely consistent with what they should have
expected."
Indeed, there is ample evidence to suggest that Obama's standing
with the netroots has not always been peachy. Prior to his victory
in Iowa, he consistently trailed former Sen. John Edwards (and, on
occasion, Chris Dodd) in the Daily Kos primary poll. Even before
then, his (now-chilled) relationship with Sen. Joseph Lieberman as
well as an essay he posted (again on Daily Kos) concerning Supreme
Court nominations earned him some plaudits but also skepticism among
some prominent online voices.
As a former aide to Sen. Hillary Clinton told The Huffington Post,
had the New York Democrat not had her own problems with the crowd,
her campaign would have been a far more natural home for the
progressive netroots.
"I don't understand why a group like MoveOn backs Obama," said the
aide. "Hillary is the one who will build up the Democratic
infrastructure. She's the one promising to fight the ideological
battles. He's the one who is talking about moving beyond
partisanship. And they love him for it."
Such an argument, however, assumes that the primary goal of major
online progressives and their audiences is aggressive partisanship.
Some want that. But many are also cognizant of another pressing
reality: the need to win. And, as such, there is a willingness to
cut Obama a bit of political slack.
"The number of people Obama's campaign has brought into the
political process and the development of the netroots progressive
movement has been an important convergence in this election," said
Ilyse Hogue, Communications Director of Moveon.org. "But it is not
an endpoint. Our goal remains to hold the ground on any issue that
matters to the progressive community. [Obama's] goal is... to get
elected, to be honest, but also to understand the power of who's
electing him. We have reason to be optimistic about that."
Moreover, the desires of the progressive netroots and the realities
of the Electoral College are not always at odds. For instance,
Obama's decision to forgo public financing in the general election -
while viewed sourly among good government groups - was a welcomed
move among the most prominent Democratic bloggers.
Others, meanwhile, have been willing to reserve judgment regarding
his position on FISA, albeit with demands that he works to defeat
the compromise.
"We'll see what he does this week," said Markos Moulitsas of Daily
Kos. "If he's part of the capitulation or refuses to lead, then it's
salient for your story. As of now, I think it's still too early to
write this piece."
And, it should be noted, there will undoubtedly be future issues in
which Obama and the netroots rally to the same cause (foremost, of
course, being the general election). As experts of campaign's past
can attest, the internal dynamics within the Senator's headquarters
inevitably leave one group or another disappointed.
"There is always a tension between what the Internet department is
able to put out and what all the other departments want," said Tim
Tagaris, Ned Lamont's Internet Director during the 2006 Senate and
an aide in similar capacity to Chris Dodd's campaign in '08. "The
question is what battles do you want to fight, because it is a
battle everyday. And he's not going to win it all the time because
there are people on staff who have been doing this for decades and
the Internet as a political tool is relative new."
But clearly, at this point in time, the honeymoon period that Obama
enjoyed for the latter part of the Democratic primary and the first
weeks of the general election seems to be setting. And a tug-of-war
of sorts could soon emerge between progressive bloggers and the
Senator, both over campaign positions as well as the affections of
Democrats.
Salon.com's Glenn Greenwald offered an opening salvo by chastising
Obama supporters for a willingness to rationalize their candidate's
position on FISA in a way that was "unhealthy in the extreme." While
at the Personal Democracy Forum, the Senator's new-media guru, Joe
Rospars, was forced to dispute the premise of an assertion that his
candidate was "stand-offish" with the blogs.
"Where we see that he is consistent with the netroots is his
organizing and belief in organizing," explained Hogue. "Obviously
there is some policy divergence which is crystallizing this week.
And that's not incredibly surprising, We still have some work to do
as a progressive movement to not just have candidates speak about
our issues but act on our issues."
McCain’s advisor dreams of a terror attack so that
his boss would become president Charles Black, a top
advisor for US presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, expressed an
opinion that a terrorist attack on US soil would 'be a big advantage
to his candidate", so that the American people elect his boss McCain
instead of Barack Obama. He said this in an interview to Fortune
Magazine.
Barack Obama's campaign headquarters has already reacted to this
statement. The official press release of Obama's campaign points out
that Obama is outraged with the statement made by Charles Black, top
political advisor of Republican presidential candidate Sen. John
McCain, about a terrorist attack in the US.
Barack Obama's campaign issued a response to Black's comments:
"Barack Obama welcomes a debate about terrorism with John McCain,
who has fully supported the Bush policies that have taken our eye
off of al Qaeda, failed to bring Osama bin Laden to justice, and
made us less safe. The fact that John McCain's top advisor says that
a terrorist attack on American soil would be a 'big advantage' for
their political campaign is a complete disgrace, and is exactly the
kind of politics that needs to change. Barack Obama will turn the
page on these failed policies and this cynical and divisive brand of
politics so that we can unite this nation around a common purpose to
finish the fight against al Qaeda," said Obama campaign spokesman
Bill Burton.
This is what McCain's advisor Charles Black said to the Fortune
Magazine:
"A fresh terrorist attack certainly would be a big advantage to
him."
Presidential candidate's advisor stressed that in the eyes of the
American voters McCain is greatly trusted on the issues of national
security. He also brought up an example of the terrorist act in
Pakistan, in which leader of Pakistani opposition Benazir Bhutto was
assassinated.
He admitted that the December assassination of former Pakistani
Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, while 'unfortunate,' helped McCain
win the Republican important primary in New Hampshire by focusing
attention on national security.
Black said, "His (McCain's) knowledge and ability to talk about
it reemphasized that this is the guy who's ready to be
Commander-in-Chief. And it helped us."
During his trip in California, McCain told journalists that he
could not imagine why Mr. Black would say something like that; it is
not true. Senator McCain added that after September 11, 2001, he
worked on preventing a new terror attack.
Mr. Black himself said that he regretted making the comments and
that they were "inappropriate".
He also said that he admits that Senator McCain dedicated his
whole life to the defense of our country and the nation's security
is above all other considerations.
Charles Black is a famous lawyer and lobbyist. According to the
Washington, DC law firm BKHS & Associates, which he was heading
before March, when he started running John McCain's campaign
headquarters, Mr. Black was a top advisor for US Presidents Ronald
Reagan and George H. W. Bush, as well as an advisor for George W.
Bush's campaign headquarters. |
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