McCain Scores Big With Offshore Oil Drilling Proposal

newsmax.com ^ | June 19, 2008 | Dick Morris & Eileen McGann

[Free ThinkerNY]

John McCain has drawn first blood in the political debate following Barack Obama's victory in the primaries. His call yesterday for offshore oil drilling — and Bush's decision to press the issue in Congress — puts the Democrats in the position of advocating the wear-your-sweater policies that made Jimmy Carter unpopular.

With gas prices nearing $5, all of the previous shibboleths need to be discarded. Where once voters in swing states like Florida opposed offshore drilling, the high gas prices are prompting them to reconsider. McCain's argument that even hurricane Katrina did not cause any oil spills from the offshore rigs in the Gulf of Mexico certainly will go far to allay the fears of the average voter.

For decades, Americans have dragged their feet when it comes to switching their cars, leaving their SUVs at home, and backing alternative energy development and new oil drilling. But the recent shock of a massive surge in oil and gasoline prices has awakened the nation from its complaisance. The soaring prices are the equivalent of Pearl Harbor in jolting us out of our trance when it comes to energy.

Suddenly, everything is on the table. Offshore drilling, Alaska drilling, nuclear power, wind, solar, flex-fuel cars, plug-in cars are all increasingly attractive options and John McCain seems alive to the need to go there while Obama is strangely passive. During the Democratic primary, he opposed a gas tax holiday and continues to be against offshore and Alaska drilling and squishy on nuclear power.

That leaves turning down your thermostat and walking to work as the Democratic policies.

[Free ThinkerNY]

[DesScorp]

McCain needs to hammer Obama on this every day.

[Redgirl]

“wear-your-sweater policies”

That’s a good description. Dingy H IS quite the nerd.

[chaos_5]

I love how the debate has shifted. Libs seem to have a way fo always being on the opposite side of the conservative argument. This time they are going to have to try and get elected by opposing lower gas prices! ROFL

[NonValueAdded]

If it is going to take 10 years,
shouldn't we get started?

Drill here, drill now, pay less

[Dilbert San Diego]

Brings back memories. Jimmy Carter wore a sweater and had a fireside chat with the American people. He told us that the energy crisis was the moral equivalent of war.

[Brian S. Fitzgerald]

McCain needs to be everything Obama is not.

[Miss Didi]

Perhaps Barry’s campaign can design some really toasty cardigans, ski hats and ear muffs with a “Change” logo on them...you know for the cold winters ahead.

[G.Love]

Carter also told us that the era of American exceptionalism was over and it was all downhill from there.

Was there any issue he was on the right side of?

[tflabo]

What an inept,overbloated, pontificating, selfish bunch of old tasbards have occupied seats in Capitol Hill building both past and present. They have screwed up our present (Energy) and future (Social Security) through their corrupted tenures. Pox on the guilty ones!

[paudio]

McCain needs to be everything Obama is not.

One thing he cannot, even if he wants to: being White. Since Obama is half white, McCain cannot be not white.

[Miss Didi]

CALLER: But the reason why I called is I had called earlier when you were going on the tirade about how Obama is not going to be anything more than Jimmy Carter's second term and, you know, the Obama people are sitting there saying, "Well, McCain is just going to be Bush 3," and all that crap, and to be honest, I don't think that's fair to the predecessors. I think we need to address the candidates for who they are and not try -- and I know the Dems are just trying to bring this up because they want to keep Bush on the ticket because they think everybody hates Bush, which I'm disappointed in George Bush, I am, but, you know, I don't hate him. I think he's done a lot of good, you know.

RUSH: All right, let's stay focused on your suggestion. Your suggestion is that we be a little bit more detailed, say, about Obama than simply saying hey, this is going to be nothing more than Jimmy Carter's second term.

CALLER: Right. I think Obama has the potential of being way more dangerous than Jimmy Carter ever was.

RUSH: That would be hard to do. How old did you say you are now, Will?

CALLER: I'm 28.

RUSH: 28.

CALLER: So I missed Jimmy Carter completely, you know, I grew up --

RUSH: That's right. You don't know, then. You did not live through it. I know what you mean by it could be worse than Carter, but let me explain why this is done. Now, we know why the Democrats are saying Bush 3. They want Bush on the ballot. The Democrats hate Bush. The media hate Bush. They think, therefore, most Americans hate Bush. So if they can turn McCain into Bush, then their dimwit voters, that's all they'll need, they think. They're misunderstanding. Bush is not hated. He is unpopular. A lot of his unpopularity stems from the fact he's disappointed people on his own side by not fighting back and not defending himself against some of these outrageous attacks that he's undergone, but nobody dislikes the guy. The reason for Jimmy Carter 2 -- and, by the way, that was not how I started out explaining Obama. We have dissected as much of Obama's policies as possible. Every time he opens his mouth and says something that's just naive, ignorant, stupid, dangerously wrong, or whatever, I explain in great detail why. But there's also this notion, the concept here of communication, the concept of persuasion, and the concept of illustration, Shakespeare said it: Brevity is the soul of wit.

Now, to somebody like you, you're 28, so you were born in 1980. Carter was gone and you weren't old enough, soon enough, to have any direct recollection of what those years of his were like. But for people that are older than you to say Jimmy Carter's second term, those who lived through it do not want to do that again. It is a simple way and a brief way of getting people to start thinking about who Obama is. I agree with you, you gotta back it up with in-depth analysis and commentary of his policies, which happens here regularly. I get calls, Will, now and then from people similar to you, and basically what you're saying is, can we stop at the labels, can we just stick to the substance? The problem is labels work. A Marxist is a Marxist because he's a Marxist. A leftist is a leftist because he's a leftist. A communist is an SOB because he's a communist. A conservative is a conservative because he's conservative. It gets a little bit more nebulous when you start talking about Republicans and Democrats 'cause there's all kinds of Republicans, a couple kinds of Democrats, but again, it's not labeling; it's accurate description. The art of communication, persuasion, motivation, this sort of thing, those are key elements here in how one tends to convey honest impressions and opinions of others and their policies. I appreciate the call.

[Redgirl]

They won't be happy until we're back to horse and buggy. Maybe Obama will have the Feds distribute mosquito nets too.

[PugetSoundSoldier]

Peanuts taste good... I think he got that one right!

[hinckley buzzard]

Obama is strangely passive

He is not strangely passive. He is merely on hold while his handlers decide how he should respond to McCain's gambit. Shortly they will tell him what to say and he will say it.

[Cobra64]

[bray]

If you like $5/gal, Thank Congress in Nov!

Pray for W and Our Troops

[Randy Larsen]

I just read your profile page....

I couldn’t help but notice that you too have been involved in a few “FREEDOM ISSUES”

TWO THUMBS UP!

[King of Florida]

I know I’m distinctly in the minority here, but even if offshore AND ANWR drilling were put in the pipeline (pun intended) 20 years ago, we would still be seeing gas at only slightly less than the same prices we have today.

The problem is vastly more complicated than getting offshore drilling online. Although as a matter of principle, I believe there should be drilling whereever, I refuse to be stupid solely for the sake of gaining political points. Offshore drilling SHOULD be allowed, but not because it’s going to make any significant difference in gas prices. It’s not.

[smedley64]

Hahaha. That about sums it up.