The Central Election Issue
Last year, the war was foremost on people's minds for this upcoming election. Their side wanted it over with, and happily jumped on the bandwagon of Senator Obama who had stated he would end the war in Iraq. (Hint, senator, Iraq is not a "war." It is a theater of operations.) Our side did not want to leave Iraq, and allow it to fall to the jihadists. With the success in Iraq on the heels of the surge, the war has been moved to the back burner. Today, the WaPo touches on the issue that could very well bring us victory this year:
Four-dollar-a-gallon gas has done something that few Republicans thought possible just a few months ago: given them hope.
United behind a renewed push for offshore oil drilling, Republican members of Congress and the party's presumptive presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain, think they have found their best political issue of the 2008 campaign.
McCain strategists and GOP leaders on Capitol Hill say the issue, which polls suggest Americans favor by healthy margins, lets Republicans demonstrate their plans to address the anger over high gas prices as well as the broader economic distress that many voters feel.
Because most Democrats, including Sen. Barack Obama, are opposed to increased drilling, McCain and the GOP have already begun casting their rivals as unconcerned about gas prices and unwilling to wean the country from foreign oil.
"The failure of Senator Obama to understand the need to increase domestic production is just stunning, and that's going to be a real hurdle for him to overcome, because everybody gets it," said Nancy Pfotenhauer, a senior McCain adviser.
This can be the issue that could seriously hurt the Democrats this year provided that the Democrats continue to obstruct the issue, and offer up foolish ideas such as dipping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserves. The only thing that could change this is if enough moderate Democrats raise a stink and force the hands of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. Recall, if you will, the temper tantrum Senator Reid threw last week over being defeated on the oil speculator bill he proposed. The Democrats simply do not care about becoming energy independent, and increasing our domestic supply. They want us in dark homes with no AC or heat, and still beholden to those nations abroad that do not like us.
The moderate Democrats pose the first of two problems. If they push hard enough, and Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid cave, the issue will be off the table. The other problem that the WaPo notes, is if there is a serious accident. They talk about a "massive" spill that occurred on the Mississippi River last week. The problem is that was a tanker colliding with a barge, and the spill was not nearly as massive as the WaPo breathlessly reports. Furthermore, we have not had a serious spill since the Exxon Valdez hit the Prince William Reef back in 1989. Technology has improved greatly, and the risk of such a spill of that magnitude is slim nowadays.
This is, indeed, the issue that could hurt the Democrats seriously this year. Americans, literally, vote with their wallets. As long as gas prices are as high as they are, this is going to be a wedge issue that the Democrats will have to deal with, and they will not be able to spin it away with inanity like "use the leased land you already have or risk losing it" as Speaker Pelosi infamously stated a couple weeks ago. Memo to Madame Pelosi -- if there was any oil there, we are pretty sure the oil companies would be pumping out of the ground. Obviously, those wells are dry. It is time to expand drilling to the OCS, and add more wells to the interior of the nation, including drilling in ANWR.
Until Democrats wake up and get the hint, this issue could literally be the noose they are hung by when November comes around.
Marcie
Four-dollar-a-gallon gas has done something that few Republicans thought possible just a few months ago: given them hope.
United behind a renewed push for offshore oil drilling, Republican members of Congress and the party's presumptive presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain, think they have found their best political issue of the 2008 campaign.
McCain strategists and GOP leaders on Capitol Hill say the issue, which polls suggest Americans favor by healthy margins, lets Republicans demonstrate their plans to address the anger over high gas prices as well as the broader economic distress that many voters feel.
Because most Democrats, including Sen. Barack Obama, are opposed to increased drilling, McCain and the GOP have already begun casting their rivals as unconcerned about gas prices and unwilling to wean the country from foreign oil.
"The failure of Senator Obama to understand the need to increase domestic production is just stunning, and that's going to be a real hurdle for him to overcome, because everybody gets it," said Nancy Pfotenhauer, a senior McCain adviser.
This can be the issue that could seriously hurt the Democrats this year provided that the Democrats continue to obstruct the issue, and offer up foolish ideas such as dipping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserves. The only thing that could change this is if enough moderate Democrats raise a stink and force the hands of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. Recall, if you will, the temper tantrum Senator Reid threw last week over being defeated on the oil speculator bill he proposed. The Democrats simply do not care about becoming energy independent, and increasing our domestic supply. They want us in dark homes with no AC or heat, and still beholden to those nations abroad that do not like us.
The moderate Democrats pose the first of two problems. If they push hard enough, and Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid cave, the issue will be off the table. The other problem that the WaPo notes, is if there is a serious accident. They talk about a "massive" spill that occurred on the Mississippi River last week. The problem is that was a tanker colliding with a barge, and the spill was not nearly as massive as the WaPo breathlessly reports. Furthermore, we have not had a serious spill since the Exxon Valdez hit the Prince William Reef back in 1989. Technology has improved greatly, and the risk of such a spill of that magnitude is slim nowadays.
This is, indeed, the issue that could hurt the Democrats seriously this year. Americans, literally, vote with their wallets. As long as gas prices are as high as they are, this is going to be a wedge issue that the Democrats will have to deal with, and they will not be able to spin it away with inanity like "use the leased land you already have or risk losing it" as Speaker Pelosi infamously stated a couple weeks ago. Memo to Madame Pelosi -- if there was any oil there, we are pretty sure the oil companies would be pumping out of the ground. Obviously, those wells are dry. It is time to expand drilling to the OCS, and add more wells to the interior of the nation, including drilling in ANWR.
Until Democrats wake up and get the hint, this issue could literally be the noose they are hung by when November comes around.
Marcie
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 11:00 AM
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