Obama did compromise on FISA. He has allowed the SCOTUS DC handguns ruling to pass without criticism. He has made statements about the death penalty which have raised progressive eyebrows.
Some argue that this is smart politics on his part under the circumstances.
Some of you argue that this is caving, compromising of principles, and betrayal, and that furthermore (on FISA) the D control of the House is sufficient that it was unnecessary.
Let me address both sides here.
Dear purity trolls,
When you attack Obama with anger and indignation, you make us appear divided. You make it look like Business as Usual. You threaten -- inasmuch as people get wind of your arguments -- to dampen the enthusiasm we desperately need for the final battle in November.
Please stop it. Please start using phrases like "I respectfully disagree with the Senator, whom I still intend to support."
It's just like the Obama vs. Hillary thing was. If you were a Hillary supporter disappointed that Obama won, or an Obama supporter and it had been the other way around, and you chose to sit home or vote McCain on Election Day, you're a fool and I don't know how else to put it.
For all that FISA is a very legitimate issue, and Obama's compromise does bear a long, hard, and critical look, he is still overwhelmingly the candidate of choice for a progressive.
It is the mark of the irrational extremist that when offered 95% of what he wants, he refuses it, demanding 100%. The rational person will eagerly accept his 95% and then keep fighting for the other 5%. Don't give up on that 5% -- never give up -- but take what you can get first and fight for more once you have that.
Dear unflinching Obama defenders,
I hope desperately that our candidate knows that this is a very real problem. That his behavior of the last few weeks does seem "triangulating" and like "more of the same" from a "Washington insider". The very thing which energizes so many people to support Barack, one of the things that lifted him above Senator Clinton in so many places, is his message of change and hope. If he loses that, frankly we'd have probably been better off with Senator Clinton and her advertisably greater experience.
So even as I am calling on the Purity Trolls to be mindful of the rhetoric they use and the battles they choose, I am calling on our candidate and his supporters to be very clear on what our strongest points are. Do not throw hope and change under the bus.
If Barack moves to the right on any issue -- particularly one as important as the Constitution -- I want to hear an explanation for it. I want to hear him say on CNN and MSNBC why he did it, why he felt the compromise was acceptable, why he gave an inch to get a mile and how he plans to get that inch back on January 21st.
Have I captured both sides reasonably well?
Now let's shake hands, resolve to fight the good fight as one until W's Third Term has been prevented, and get this thing done. Keep up the enthusiasm, even as we remain mindful of our candidate's imperfections. Resolve to hold him to his stated goals and ideals in January, even as we tout his vision and his leadership through November.