The Politics of Eavesdropping

THE POLITICS OF EAVESDROPPING
[SOURCE: Newsweek, AUTHOR: Michael Isikoff andMark Hosenball]
A White House campaign to win quick passage of a major surveillance bill has hit a new snag in recent days: four Democratic presidential candidates have signaled their intention to oppose the measure as it is currently written. Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut took the lead last week when he vowed to filibuster a version of the bill overwhelmingly approved by the Senate Intelligence Committee. No sooner had Dodd issued his statement than MoveOn.org—along with leading liberal bloggers such as DailyKos—launched their own campaign to pressure other Democratic presidential candidates to commit to the same position. By Wednesday, at least two other candidates—Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden--had joined with Dodd in pledging to oppose any surveillance bill that includes immunity for the telecoms. Sen. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front runner, released a more equivocal statement, saying she was "troubled by the concerns" raised about the bill and pledging to "study it very hard." The statement continued: "As matters stand now, I could not support it and I would support a filibuster absent additional information coming forward that would convince me differently."
http://www.newsweek.com/id/61969