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Comment by vectorpush | Hacker News Reader

leading into what may be a difficult election year, and dependent on money from Hollywood and unions (the big Democratic funders), this is an easy call.

There is no way that Obama hasn't taken the temperature on SOPA by now. Obama's most vocal liberal base will transform into an internet hate machine to rival the likes of the tea party if SOPA is signed. There is also the Ron Paul crew capturing more and more Democratic voters by the day, a signature on SOPA would be an incredible windfall for them in terms of people who would refuse to vote for Obama out of pure anger.

I don't underestimate the influence of these interests in Washington, but SOPA is really unpopular right now and getting more so by the day.

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> I don't underestimate the influence of these interests in Washington, but SOPA is really unpopular right now and getting more so by the day.

I think it's really unpopular on HN and on websites with "tech" in the name, but is the general electorate even aware of the issue? I don't see much about SOPA in the MSM (admittedly the last several months have had a lot of news-worthy events).

The news still seems largely contained to the tech circles, though the GoDaddy story managed to get a lot of press.

but is the general electorate even aware of the issue?

I would argue that the tech media is pretty hip these days and not as far removed from the general electorate as you might think, but only time will tell.

Purely anecdotal, but I have had a number of totally non-technical friends and acquaintances come up to me lately to express concerns about SOPA/PIPA and what it might mean for the internet, the critical importance of which even non-technical people clearly understand.

> Obama's most vocal liberal base will transform into an internet hate machine to rival the likes of the tea party if SOPA is signed.

Unless they're willing to vote for his opponent, and they're not, that doesn't matter.

Politicians are only interested in things that affect votes. Signing SOPA will not lose Obama a single state. However, signing it will give him money to win states.

The Repubs are the ones who are playing this one dumb. They should oppose SOPA and all "protect Hollywood/MPAA" measures because those measures give money to folks who contribute to Dems.

I think the argument against SOPA has yet to break out of the tech echo chamber.

To be honest I think SOPA is inevitable, most people won't be able to grasp the level of injustice involved until it is enforced.

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