One of the more common refrains we've heard regarding the purported wisdom of Barack Obama's support of the FISA bill is that "most people don't care." The subtext is that only diehard progressives could possibly give a rip about retroactive amnesty for the telecom corporations that participated in felonious surveillance of U.S. citizens at the Bush administration's behest. Only radicals, they say, would have the time and inclination to be concerned about the dilution of our Fourth Amendment rights.

By playing the Blue Dog game of forever avoiding that omnipresent (yet now quite toothless) GOP Attack Machine, say the apologists, Obama is simply establishing his bona fides with Security Moms, NASCAR Dads, Wal-Mart Voters, Inbred Appalachians, and Pet Owners. Best of all, he's sticking it to those goddammned liberals, who even many Democratic operatives have learned to despise for their temerity.

I can only wonder, though, if there's a regional difference to this (in my perspective) erroneous take on things. I haven't lived on the East Coast since 1994, so I'm not entirely up on the collective mindset there these days. But out West, folks still get pretty sensitive about the government snooping in on their private lives, oftentimes regardless of their party affiliation. Westerners tend also to be a comparatively egalitarian lot and aren't keen about handing the jail keys over to fatcat suits who should instead be doing 3-to-5 with hard labor. In other words, many people in this part of the country do indeed care about this stuff.

Obama has thus far been running very strong in the Upper Midwest, Mountain States, and West Coast -- better than any Democratic candidate in recent memory. But aside from just getting garden-variety progressives angry at him over the FISA vote, as well as certain other right-leaning positions he's assumed over the past month, has Obama jeopardized his standing somewhat with Westerners as a whole? 

We'll have to keep one eye on the polls to see how it all shakes out, of course. I've noticed some softening recently in Obama's numbers here in my home state of Washington. I wonder, too, about states like Montana and Wisconsin, where there no doubt are considerable quantities of Obama supporters who are now feeling quite dejected. Colorado and New Mexico come to mind, too.

I suspect it's only a matter of time before the Blue Dog playbook is seen as a liability at the national level. Progressivism is ascendant, vociferous, and increasingly well-funded. Question is, what level of damage will the insular and entrenched consultant class do to the Democratic Party before arriving at this inevitable epiphany? Sadly, the Obama campaign may be among the first to find out. 

I see the specter of the GOP bogeyman remains prominent in the "strategic" thinking of many Dems. Rather than fighting for one's principles, the apparent priority is to make sure the Big Meanies don't sock it to us later. We might just wilt if they do, given how supine we already are.

Politicians are universally by nature malleable creatures, with only a few hints of core conviction. It's perilous to give any candidate a free ride, including those we favor, as they'll sure as shit start paying vastly more attention to those who actually are yelling at them (as well as the obvious fundraising pipelines).

Obama's position on FISA is objectionable and he needs to hear about it. He (and many of his colleagues) should be raked over the coals by the left side of the political spectrum. The alternative is to see him shift further to the erroneous right, whose activists -- brickheaded as they may be -- are willing to throw down the gauntlet for their beliefs.

Al Gore's campaign strategy was to avoid potential GOP attacks. John Kerry's strategy was to avoid potential GOP attacks. Anyone who still endorses this brilliant method of achieving victory needs psychiatric assistance. Get out there and fight or get out of the way.

It's not about Obama. He's an ideal vehicle for progressive policy change, nothing more. Don't forget that. Make him work for us to the extent of our viable influence, and stop being so goddamned reactionary. It's no longer 2002, my traumatized friends. Note the shift in the winds and make use of them.