Posted on 03/08/2011 10:01:41 PM PST by Josh Painter
Timing is everything, as the old saying goes, and no political issue depends on timing as much as that of energy. When prices for gasoline at the pump are high, energy climbs to the top of the electorate's list of concerns, but when prices are low, people tend not to think about it. If the price at the pump continues to climb and stays high through the summer, it will be very much on the minds of voters. And that will play to the strength of Sarah Palin's hand, as Scott Conroy recently observed at RealClearPolitics:
It would be difficult for Palin's GOP rivals, and even her Democratic critics, to deny that energy issues fall directly into the wheelhouse of the former Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commissioner who went on to lead a state where almost 90 percent of the budget is funded by oil revenue. As Tina Fey might say, Palin can see oil pipelines from her house.It has not escaped Gov. Palin's attention. She tweeted Tuesday:During an appearance on Fox News last weekend, Palin nodded in anticipation and smiled confidently as host Jeanine Pirro lined up a question about what the government should do about rising gas prices.
Speaking with unbridled relish, Palin replied that opening the strategic oil reserves was not the solution to the problem and reverted to her old mantra that the government should "drill here and drill now" before going into a more in-depth criticism of the Obama administration's energy policies.
"Back in '08, our U.S. crude also was trading at about $100 a barrel as it is today for about six months, and that was right before our world economy imploded," Palin said. "And now here we are back again, so [Obama's] timing - his destructive timing - of locking up 97 percent of our off-shore and not allowing ANWR to be touched, not allowing domestic drilling to take place to the degree that it should, it is terrifying where he is leading us in terms of being at the mercy of foreign regimes that would seek our demise to produce energy for us."
[...]
As Palin continues to generate criticism from those who frequently suggest that she has not demonstrated a thorough understanding of the issues facing the country, the energy topic could offer a prime opportunity for her to prove them wrong.
As she continues to mull a presidential run, Palin figures to take particular note that energy issues figure to loom especially large in the nation's first voting state of Iowa.
[More]
Obama's so wrong on energy/scary wrong on oil;AK alone w/billions bbls & trillions cu ft of nat gas.(Other states, too) http://bit.ly/hX5AzTHer link points to this Investors.com article showing the results of its latest poll, which clearly demonstrates that Americans' attitudes about domestic drilling are very much in sync with what she has been saying for years:
With the price of gas up 39 cents at the pump in a month and heading higher amid turmoil in much of the Middle East, Americans wonder why the U.S. isn't doing more to exploit its own oil resources.Though most Americans relate to the energy issue as an economic one, Gov. Palin has often pointed out that energy trancends the economy. It is a national security issue. Our military depends on a stable source of petroleum products to fuel jets, tanks, trucks and many of its ships. When that supply is interrupted, the military can't move. That's why our national strategic petroleum reserve exists. It's there for the military to draw from if its supply is suddenly cut off or significantly reduced. It's not there to tap every time prices get near or above the four dollar level, something Sarah Palin understands, but President Obama does not.They favor drilling in territorial waters, 67%-29%, according to a new IBD/TIPP poll. That is up from 61%-30% from last May and 64%-25% when Republicans touted drilling in the 2008 election as oil topped $147 a barrel.
There's also been a solid shift toward drilling in Alaska's Arc tic National Wildlife Refuge, with support at 54%-40%. That's up from 49%-43% last year.
A solid 65%-21% favor tapping federal shale reserves in states like Colorado, Wyoming and Utah, off just slightly from May.
"Americans understand we rely heavily on oil imported from the Middle East and the recent events cause concern and uncertainties in their minds," said Raghavan Mayur, president of Technometrica Market Intelligence, which conducted the poll.
[More]
Energy security is one more reason why our nation sorely needs a national energy plan which draws on "all of the above" sources, but includes a serious commitment to explore and produce much more oil and natural gas domestically. Besides, we could use the jobs which would be created, addressing another key concern on the minds of the electorate.
Sarah Palin's signature issue may have just arrived, which has to weigh heavily on her decision to run or not to run. No other candidate for 2012 knows this issue as well as she, and it's a club she can use to beat up on an incumbent president who nothing to reduce energy prices or increase domestic production, so beholden is he to the green lobby. High oil prices are knocking on that door of opportunity she has spoken of, and her time to make history may be waiting on the other side.
- JP
For your information Reagan entered late into the process.....but I don’t think that Palin will do that similar plan -
Also for your info, Palin said herself that she will not do an exploratory committee if she ran, she would just jump in. Palin did not deny that she got people in Iowa and if you read her book, she hates the massive amount of advisers and consultants and will not hire those type of people......the thing is that after two years many people around here still have no clue on how Palin thinks or how she do things but the information is out there if someone really wants to find out.....in fact some of the very things that she is doing now is very similar to what she wrote in her book ‘Going Rogue’ when she was planning to run for Governor.
Larry Sabato of UVA studied it.
We'll see. I would never underestimate Palin. She just had a big meeting in Alaska with Jan Brewer, Gov. of Arizona.
Top issues for Americans are Energy Independence / oil/gas drilling and Immigration/border security.
I can just see her formulating a sound argument right now that shows how solving those two problems will create jobs, lower taxes, and out-of-control-spending.
Maybe there will be a Palin/Brewer ticket. :)
bttt
Based on what you wrote in #21, what do you think of this?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/2685844/posts?page=24#24
Wise words. We need to understand that a very, very small percentage of the voting population is going to read Free Republic. We have to reach them where they are, not where we wish they were.
Good point, he announced his candidacy for President less than one year before the general election.
Drill here...drill now....tax the hell out of the drillers....the palin way.
the thing is that after two years many people around here still have no clue on how Palin thinks or how she do things but the information is out there if someone really wants to find out.....
I think you make a valid point. Now considering that only a fraction of the voting public is deeply interested in politics the way people of FR follow are indicates to me that reaching them becomes a very big threshold to be crossed. I’m not sure you can cross it without some very strong and controlled groups operating in each state with a very detailed plan and message to reach the voters. It is much different to run in a small populated area like AK than it is to run in 50 states with most that are basically much larger in population by large numbers.
An unconventional campaign maybe the route for her but I think she’ll need a lot more of the campaign style that has traditionally been used to reach the voters. We’ll see but in any case it will make for an interesting next 12-15 months.
Take care.
Selector must have been on “Auto”. ;-)
You mean the drillers that were camping on their leases and not actually producing anything? The same drillers who used cronyism to artificially restrict the markets? Those drillers?
Drill here. Drill now. Drill every where... Free markets work.
Drill here...drill now....tax the hell out of the drillers....the palin way.
It is much larger than just drill baby drill. At the minimum there are several very different processes needed to bring the crude from below the ground to the pump at the local gasoline station. Each process has its own unique problems and steps. The steps/processes are as I see it:
Drilling and finding the crude
Gathering and delivery of the crude to the refineries
Refining
Retail distribution of the product to the local gasoline station
Oil speculators of a world wide fungible product have been one the reason that prices rise out of control like they have in the past few weeks/months. How do you control the world markets when they aren’t under the US control? I don’t think we have refineries sitting around idle waiting on crude to be delivered at this time. No easy solution exist imo.
One of the primary drivers for the price increase is threatened scarcity. Remove the threat of scarcity, and the price will drop back.
yeah because she doesn’t know how to do good ads that can reach the people /s
http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=bUVy2SBbg64&feature=related
http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=xr3sj8q5lfY
http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=X67qgNtZPdQ
and she doesn’t know how to push the narrative and get the media attention /s
and she can’t reach the people when she speaks /s
http://il.youtube.com/user/SarahPalinAK#p/u/0/fPq8bF49NBU
Well, you only have to wait about five weeks to know for sure.
Bingo! Very close to what I was thinking......Sarah had once noted last year in very detail how that Obama had defunded or took money away from border security in the budget - I remembered in her book how she and her people went through her opponent Murkowski budget to point out things that very few people had looked at.
I do know that immigration and energy independence are winnable issues to the rest of the country - yeah it will get the leftist and enviro nuts in a uproar but it will drive many conservatives and independents out to vote
Nope....I mean the excessive windfall profit tax that she imposed on top of all the existing taxes...it drove a few companies to look in friendlier places...
You are correct that Reagan jumped in late in '80. The difference now is that the Pres race kicks off earlier. Also, Reagan had tons of operates in states from the '76 run. He had existing groundwork in place. You need people on the ground working to get support for your candidacy. Mark Levin talks about this once and a while on his show because he was one of these people. It is super important. Especially if your negatives are so high.
Reagan also did a daily radio show to get the message out to the base. He was campaigning behind the scenes. He was not just occasionally hitting FOX news programs to slam some no name comedy hack. You can not entirely throw out the playbook for winning nat'l office because of the way some states have their primaries set up. Your message will not get out to the base in time. It is a PR battle with the base.
How disastrous will it look if she jumps in late and Romney routs her all the way through till the southern states vote later in the season? She will be done for good.
Oh heavens! Competition! Can't have that... :-|
How would an additional tax on production and an increased tax on profits make any difference on the Point Thompson field? If anything, it gave more reason not to produce the condensate and more reason to invest the capital in places like Canada.
This was/is a separate issue from non-producing leases as it would have no effect on them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.