Obama is right in following the Cracker Squire's position & voting as a moderate & not leaving himself out on a weak liberal limb that might break.

In a 3-15-08 post entitled "I'm with the Senate on this one. It voted to give legal immunity to phone providers that helped in the wiretapping program in pursuit of terrorists."

The post noted that the House had just rejected retroactive immunity for the phone companies that took part in the National Security Agency’s program of eavesdropping without warrants, and it voted to place tighter restrictions on the government’s wiretapping powers.

The Wall Street Journal in an article entitled "Many Democrats Object as House Passes Spying Bill" notes:

The House passed legislation to expand spying authority, despite the objections of most Democratic lawmakers, almost ensuring that a White House-backed surveillance measure will become law.

The heated debate reflected a sharp split between liberal and moderate-to-conservative Democrats in an election year when Republicans are seeking to bludgeon Democrats on national-security matters. Party leaders had worked feverishly to mend the rift for several months, but were unable to find a solution that could pass muster with both liberal House lawmakers and the Senate.

Reflecting these tensions, presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama announced Friday he would support the bill. The move is geared toward his general-election campaign, but will also upset many in the party's liberal base. "It is not all that I would want," he said in a statement. "But given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence-collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay."

He said he would attempt to remove the phone-company immunity provision when the Senate votes next week, though his chances of success are low. Mr. Obama added that, as president, he would monitor the program and "work with the Congress to take any additional steps I deem necessary."

The bill moves to the Senate, which is expected to debate the measure next week. It is expected to pass with overwhelming support, though senators could use procedural maneuvering to stall or kill the bill.

The measure would permit the federal government to listen to conversations between the U.S. and suspicious people overseas without a specific warrant.

Despite broad opposition from Democrats, the party's leaders concluded Congress had to pass a surveillance measure. They faced an August deadline, when previously authorized surveillance orders would begin to expire. Conservative Democrats in tough re-election races were clamoring for a bill. Party leaders wanted to pass the surveillance bill, so they could move on to issues where they would have more election-year traction, such as the economy, congressional aides said.
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This WSJ came out [read Obama went public on how he would vote] before I could post the following from an earlier Wall Street Journal story:

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama will have to decide whether to support it and risk the wrath of his party's left wing, or vote against it and risk losing support from independents. One top Democratic lawmaker said the Democrats delayed the announcement by a couple of days, in part to give the presumptive nominee time to assess his position.