Yes, but it also means that the party in power, currently the Democrats in the Senate and Executive Branch, have a stake in the status quo, as did the Republicans previously. Witness the contrast between candidate Obama in 2008, piously railing against privacy invasions and warrant-less wiretapping, and a defensive, contrite President Obama this month, smoothly reassuring us that NSA analysts won't monitor content without a warrant.
By the time the 2014 elections roll around, this issue will be all but forgotten by the vast majority of the electorate. At least, that's what both parties are probably counting on.
Yeah, and politicians know how to deflect attention from this issue. A few months before the election, if people are still talking about the NSA, you can expect the media to suddenly start reporting on a scandal involving some politician, or how the economy is taking a new downturn, or how we gave Syrians some kind of deadly weapon. The people in charge of this country know how to deal with reporters: give the reporters a scoop, and they'll forget whatever it was that they were reporting on before that.
By the time the 2014 elections roll around, this issue will be all but forgotten by the vast majority of the electorate. At least, that's what both parties are probably counting on.