The Republican party has emerged the clear winner of today's political battle over SOPA/PIPA. 13 Senators have dropped support for PIPA. 11 of them are Republicans. Mr. Daily Kos is livid: It's been a while since we've seen Democrats this tone deaf, this oblivious to political reality. You have an entire wired generation focused on this issue like a laser, fighting like hell to protect their online freedoms, and it's FUCKING REPUBLICANS who are playing the heroes by dropping support?
Ars Technica points out that: Those who dropped their support were most likely bolstered by strong opposition from conservative think tanks and blogs. On Tuesday, the influential Heritage Foundation announced that it would include SOPA and PIPA as a key issue on its voter scorecard.
Democratic think tank Center for American Progress hasn't taken a position on SOPA because: CAP doesn't have a position on either of these bills, since we don't have an internet policy or an intellectual property policy shop.
So, in other words, the fact that the Democrats don't have tech policy analysts at the Center for American Progress has left the entire party vulnerable, and today they took it on the chin so hard that even their most partisan proponents can see it. If they had tech policy analysts they would have had someone they trust around to explain to them that SOPA is a brain dead bill that is only really supported by people whose economic self interest blinds them to its negative consequences. I will write a more complete/articulate version of these observations soon. Daily Kos: SOPA, and the idiocy of Democrats | 
