What's The Obama Angle?

This is just dumb.

Sen. Barack Obama’s support of a recent overhaul of domestic spy laws that rankled many on the left still has them rankled if the opening session at the annual Netroots Nation convention taking place in Austin, Texas, is any indication.

One of the first questions at a session on ground organizing run by Parag Mehta of the Democratic National Committee was about what Obama supporters should tell voters they meet while canvassing who are angry about his vote. Mehta inquired how many of the dozens of people in the room felt the same way–almost every hand in the room shot up.

Mehta offered a suggested line. Tell them “it was a bad bill but there were things in the bill worth fighting for,” he said.

This is a textbook example of a news outlet going to an event with the story already written. Nobody likes Obama's support of the FISA bill but the idea that it should be the lede of talking about this convention is just nuts. There's this real desire to create a split between Obama and his so-called base. First of all, we're not necessarily his base. Second of all, we're going to criticize and praise in maybe equal amounts and make our assessments. Third, this isn't the Borg, you have a couple thousand people here with their own perspectives. At a convention about the progressive movement and all of the great ideas that we're trying to push into the mainstream, to turn this into "Obama v. Netroots" tosses out about 95% of the equation.

This narrative needs to be thrown out.