I agree with the sentiment that if you believe in "hey, I'm doing this bad thing now, but I promise to fix it right after the election" you are a rube.  Anyone remember Arnold's promise to agree to a full investigation of the sexual harassment allegations against him right after the election?  Remind me how that one turned out.

I agree that it would be great to have some tangible sign that a good thing is going to happen on this issue after the election.  I also agree that it is very unlikely to happen.  Maybe if the Obama campaign read BTD, because it is a good suggestion that would help make up with the left.

that kind of "logic" is just so transparently stupid, it defies belief that any sentient being would actually buy into it, with a straight face.

Now that's a common sense approach to an issue that I've found sorely lacking on Netroots Obamablogs.

I commend this approach.

Obama should get out there now and give us the assurances we need that he will execute this new FISA legislation very differently than how McCain would.

"well I don't like that he did this, but I'll still vote for him because he's better than McCain"

Why would Obama ever STOP any of his triangulating?  It isn't costing him anything in the polls at all.

Maybe if people started to tell pollsters that they USED to support Obama, but now will NOT VOTE for him because of X, he would get the message.

What incentive do we provide when the posts say Obama has done this horrible thing, but, I think he'll still win?

People seem to forget that whoever is elected does not exist in a personal power vacuum, but will be pushed and pulled by those in the intelligence agencies and in the Pentagon and DOD who will be fighting tooth-and-nail to do things their way - who will resist pulling back or radically changing what has been the status quo for nearly a decade.  If we now have laws on the books that support that way of doing things, I believe it will be nearly impossible to fight the resistance - resistance that will come not only from the intelligence agencies, but from the Republican Congressional contingent.  

As for Russ Feingold - he's a smart man, and I appreciated his stand on this legislation, but that stand was diminished considerably by his convoluted attempts to minimize the consequences for Obama; by saying that Obama could fix it later, he echoed Jay Rockefeller, for crying out loud.

I find it hard to believe that Feingold did not talk to Obama about this before the vote; if Obama wasn't convinced then, what are the chances Obama will suddenly be moved to make the changes if he is president?  Less than slim-to-none, I think.

I understand the desire to think that Obama would seek to somehow walk this monster back into the closet, but it impresses me as a desire of hope that borders on the naive. Warrantless wiretapping and retroactive immunity for felonious government assaults on liberty are now the American way. Fits perfectly with the doctrine of "pre-emptive war" (that is, starting a war unprovoked to "prevent" a war), our new-found love of torture (as long as we, the pure of heart who torture only for good reason are the ones doing it) and various other bastardizations of what we thought America stood for...all in the name of defeating Goldstein...er, Bin Laden.

The best thing to do IMO is continue making a stink in such a way that Obama will feel that he owes us a turn to the left on some other issue.  Maybe if we tell him he sold out, he'll throw us a bone on healthcare.  Make him earn the left's love.