By The Prowler on 6.23.08 @ 12:08AM
FISA opposition offers cover in mortgage scandal, much to Obama and MoveOn's liking.
Sen. Barack Obama's shifting position on the
FISA bill -- on Friday he released a statement saying that he
supported the bill, and on Saturday announced that he would seek to
strip out the section providing retroactive immunity to
communications companies -- is being directed by aides to Sen.
Chris Dodd, who also opposes the compromise
legislation.
Dodd and senior Obama campaign and Senate staff have been
speaking for close to a week on strategy to kill the bill as it
became increasingly apparent that negotiations on the bill were
coming to a successful end.
"Dodd is taking his marching orders from the far left, the ACLU,
MoveOn, all the groups that have been lining up and raising
millions off this issue for more than a year," says a Senate
Republican leadership aide. "A similar version of this bill passed
with more than 60 votes last time. We don't see it failing right
now, but anything can happen."
Dodd, according to a Democratic leadership aide, went to Senate
majority leader Harry Reid and asked to be placed
front and center in opposition to the bill, in part, so that he
could build vocal support for himself on the far left in the face
of what should be a mounting scandal related to his pursuing and
receiving a sweetheart mortgage deal.
"If all [Dodd] is doing is sitting back and taking it on the
chin for the mortgage, he becomes an albatross politically. But now
he gets the ACLU crowd all excited and supporting him, and Obama
and others can associate with him because he appears to have strong
public support,"
says the Democrat aide.
As it stands, MoveOn is demanding that Obama and Dodd lead a
filibuster of the bill in the Senate, something Obama hasn't
indicated he's willing to do.
topics:
Barack Obama, Harry Reid
