Daily Kos publisher Markos Moulitsas Zúniga talks about the political price Obama will pay for his awful vote for the FISA bill this week (excerpt):

"...He or his advisors (or both) decided that they'd rather capitulate on the issue than face GOP attack ads claiming Obama is weak on national security. They let fear of political attacks (that are inevitable anyway) override respect for the Constitution and even his prior promises to the American people. The press insists on calling it a "move to the center", but really, it was a move borne out of fear. It wasn't an ideological decision (i.e. a "move to the center"), but a tactical one. It was a strategic retreat. Like all retreats, this one came with a price. Much of his veneer as a transformational politician has faded. He's a gifted and inspirational politician, no doubt about that, and he will make a great president. But at the end of the day, he's a politician, with all the triangulating goodness that's become a hallmark of our presidential candidates. That has cost him some intensity of support, some bad headlines, a new avenue of attack for Republicans (even though McCain didn't even bother showing up for the vote)..."

Yes, Obama really is just another run-of-the-mill Washington politician. If you are still running into rabid Obama supporters, then you can be assured that they aren't paying any attention to what he's actually doing and saying these days. Obama will be an improvement over Bush, but come January 2009 the new Obama Presidency will just continue business-as-usual. The Democrats blew it this year when they didn't select John Edwards as the nominee.