I just had a very interesting conversation with an Obama campaign phone volunteer. It was the first time I’ve ever been met with more than just a listener on the other end of the line dutifully recording my message for their boss. It was also the first time I’ve had a volunteer actually challenge me on my reasons for calling and my knowledge of the FISA bill.
I began by telling her that I am an Independent who switched parties in the primaries to vote for Mr. Obama, and that was due in large part because of my belief that he understands the constitution and believes in the constitution and that these factors represented a much needed change from the previous administration. I went on to say that Mr. Obama is making me nervous with his statement on FISA, and that I hoped that he was going to do more than just make a speech on the floor of the Senate, vote against its passage, then throw up his hands and say "I did all I could."
I told her that I believed Mr. Obama was in a unique position within his party as its presumptive nominee, at which point she cut me off saying "for only two weeks," and I continued that he could exert pressure and try to reign in his party on the issue. It became clear to me at this point that she had been fielding these calls all day and was tired of hearing from so many upset and likely angry voters. She briskly informed me that he couldn’t just insert himself into the House as he is, yes I know-- in the Senate, and that she didn’t really understand why there is so much fuss about this issue of immunity for telecommunications companies. After all, she continued, hadn’t the Bush administration shown outright contempt for the constitution on multiple accounts and taken us into war without a formal declaration from Congress even? What is so different and important about this issue?
"Of course," I said worrying that she was about to drop my call or rush me off the phone. "You make an excellent point," I continued, "Certainly the Bush administration has shown flagrant disregard and contempt for our system of governance, but this most certainly is a pivotal point. I expressed my indignation that our elected representatives were not fulfilling their oaths to uphold the constitution and that in fact, by passing such legislation they were placing us on a slippery slope where the most fundamental of all of our laws, those enshrined in the Bill of Rights were under attack.
I still wasn’t sure that she grasped why this was so important. I said that I knew Barack taught constitutional law in Chicago and that I was sure he was familiar with social contract theory whereby the government is a creation of the people and serves at the pleasure of the citizenry for the purpose of securing certain rights. When those rights begin to erode, then the whole system naturally begins to break down. The idea of law as a system that holds all citizens as equal and accountable is beginning to break down I said, and we are starting to believe that even the Democratic party is in league with those who think that the law should only apply to the rest of us. She started to get my drift on this point saying "yeah, but hasn’t it been like that already for some time?" and "this new legislation makes it clear that this type of surveillance is definitely against the law." Well, I responded, the original FISA legislation was already the law of the land when this program of massive government surveillance occurred and that law is quite explicit that it is the exclusive channel for such surveillance to be conducted. I asked her why it was that the new law was unbreakable when the old one spelled out exactly the same point and failed to deter the lawbreakers. She acknowledged this as a good point. I said that it seems we have to ask ourselves whether this is the direction we want our country to go or whether it is finally time that we stood up for our ideals.
I got it into my head that perhaps this issue just wasn’t Obama-centric enough to warrant all the fuss for her. So I took another angle, also one that I personally feel is valid and may have some resonance with her as she sounded to be of the age to have lived through Nixon. This is about more than just the rights of the people I said. Though that in and of itself is more than enough to warrant the outrage. It is about the security of our democracy. Nixon’s men were after all caught breaking into the DNC which at the time happened to be housed at the Watergate hotel. Members of his staff spied upon not just war protestors and academics, they spied upon political enemies and McGovern for god sake. They were collecting intelligence on McGovern, the Democratic challengers for the presidency! Considering the advances in technology since Watergate, does anyone seriously doubt that they could get all the info they would ever want from electronic surveillance, monitoring email and phone calls, and NSLs? I reminded her that FISA was set up in the wake of Watergate. So what was it that made her think that the present crew were above such tactics? Are we so totally certain that Bush and company are that much more ethical than Nixon’s crew? How could she guarantee that this law, like the last wouldn't be disregarded for the purposes of winning an election?
Now she seemed to come around a bit. "You raise some very good points. A lot of the calls I’m getting today seem so angry... and that’s ok, but you have some very good points there." I told her that I believe in the principles set out in the constitution and that I hoped that Obama did to. I am not angry with Barack, I said, but many of us still care about the rule of law and cherish our constitution and that is why we are turning out for Barack. We have hope that he will do more than just roll over when our rights are being taken from us. We want him to stand up for the rule of law. I thanked the volunteer kindly for her time and asked her to please relay my message to Barack.
I was calm and remained collected throughout the conversation and although I feel I got some pushback, it was one of the more rewarding interactions I’ve had with campaign volunteers/staffers. It was a bit more of a debate than what I'm accustomed to but I feel that I was able to reason with her in a way that shed some light on many of my concerns that I hope will make their way to her fellow volunteers, staff, and ultimately to Mr. Obama.
UPDATE: If you would like to speak with the Obama campaign, you can dial 1-866-675-2008 and choose option 6 to speak with a live person.