Candid Klobuchar Talks Shop with Bloggers

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar met with several area bloggers on Tuesday afternoon to discuss her work so far in Washington D.C., children’s health care, FISA, Iraq, and a bevy of related issues.

Klobuchar has come under fire in recent months for her votes on several of these issues, most especially those related to intelligence-gathering activities and the continuing occupation of Iraq. This fire has come not from her Republican opponents, however, but rather from Democratic activists and bloggers who have been frustrated by the lack of positive movement on problems they feel the Democratic congressional majorities were elected to fix.

I asked the Senator about the tension between partisanship and statespersonship, about sticking to one’s party line on principle or compromising with the other side to get something done.  She gave what one might call a balanced answer:  it depends on the issue.  She cited the energy standards bill passed earlier this year (which raised fuel efficiency standards for the first time in many years) as an example where compromise got things done — she would have preferred higher fuel efficiency standards, but the bill represented an important move in the right direction.

Read more (with video)Eric Pusey of MN Blue wanted to know about the FISA vote taken just before the August recess, which provided the Bush Administration with a six-month temporary authorization for certain types of domestic wiretapping.  Klobuchar said that she doesn’t defend the Protect America Act — it should have been much better.  But she also said that she will not vote for the same deal again, and that her main focus at that legislation’s sunset will be to balance surveillance needs against civil liberties, and better define what U.S. intelligence agencies are listening in on.

Pusey came away with a more positive opinion:  “As a DFL activist who was really angry with her over the combination of her supplemental war funding vote, FISA vote and condemnation of MoveOn.org, I get a better idea that she is doing many good things. I’d given her a C grade which after our meeting, I will raise to a B-.”

On Iraq, Klobuchar said bluntly that there is currently “not enough incentive for this [Iraqi] government to get its act together.”  She advocated deadlines on withdrawal of American combat troops, and said that Democrats in Congress needed to push votes again and again to force wavering Republicans to “put their votes where their mouths are” on taking decisive action to end the occupation of Iraq. 

The meeting, which we are hoping to make a regular occurrence, illustrates an important aspect of the relationship between politics and the New Media:  a lack of personal connection and regular communication makes attacking each other much easier, and understanding much more difficult.  Even with a press release or an email from a staffer, it’s not too difficult to flame a Congressperson for a vote or two.  But in an environment where those covering the news have a personal, political or ideological stake in how events unfold, a personal meeting from time to time has the potential to untangle at least a small piece of the mess that is our nation’s capital.

I ran into this effect head-on this summer, when the leaders of OpenLeft.com asked for profiles of Democrats they deemed “Bush Dogs”:  Democrats who capitulated to President Bush unnecessarily on Iraq-related votes.  Minnesota Rep. Tim Walz was on the list, and I volunteered to write a profile for the series.  I was informed, however, that the fruits of my labor weren’t exactly what was being sought, but I couldn’t be dishonest.  Having met Walz once or twice, interviewed him as a candidate, and kept in close touch with his staff, I could honestly say that despite two bad votes, the body of Walz’s work in his first term did not yet merit the negative focus of the Bush Dog campaign.

So on one hand, the merits of Klobuchar’s FISA vote were difficult for many in the left-leaning blogosphere and activist community to swallow.  On the other hand, when it’s not filtered through press releases and deadlines and column-inch limitations, her commitment to fixing that bill upon expiration is somewhat more firm than I expected it to be.

So now we can hold her to that commitment, and Minnesota’s junior Senator can engage the Netroots and New Media directly.  Both, I should think, are good things.