Is McCain coming around on ANWR?

RedState.com ^ | June 19, 2008 | Josh Painter

[Josh Painter]

In his townhall meeting here in Springfield, MO, yesterday, GOP presidential nominee-in-waiting John McCain indicated that he may be changing his tune on drilling in Alaska's ANWR reserve. According to the local Gannett fish wrapper:

For years, McCain has opposed drilling for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Refuge Area (ANWR).

But during today's town hall meeting, McCain said he'd be willing to reconsider that stance.

“I would be more than happy to examine it again,” McCain said.

It makes sense. McCain had also opposed increased drilling in the oceans off of our coastal states, but now he says that the people of those states should be the ones to decide whether to allow oil exploration and production off their shorelines.

The Democrat donkey is braying, "Flip-flop! Flip-flop!" Well, yeah, it's a flip-flop. But despite his years, McCain's eyesight is plenty good enough to read the handwriting on the wall.

Years of Democrat policies aimed at ending all domestic oil drilling in favor of renewables are killing everyday Americans at the gas pumps. Anyone with at least half a brain realizes that we're nowhere near ready for a wholesale conversion to alternate energy. It will take years for the technologies to mature, the costs to come down and the national fleet to be changed over from its petroleum base. In the interim, we will need crude oil and plenty of it. Since the stability of our present sources of oil cannot be relied upon, our nation's security has been put at considerable risk.

McCain realizes that the U.S. no longer has any choice but to develop its own dependable domestic energy supply and infrastructure. He's also politically astute enough to understand this:

McCain's position is likely to help him solidify support among conservatives, which political analysts say he needs to do to guarantee a strong GOP turnout in November. His position also puts him in line with Republicans in the House and Senate, who are pushing legislation in Congress to lift the ban.

And if all that were not enough, McCain's team can read polls, like this one:

A Gallup poll released in May showed that 57% of the American people wanted the U.S. to drill in coastal and wilderness areas. The percentage of Americans who bought Pelosi's line about price gouging fell from 34% in May 2007 to 20% in May 2008. It could be a winning issue for the Republicans and John McCain.

And this one:

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey—conducted before McCain announced his intentions on the issue--finds that 67% of voters believe that drilling should be allowed off the coasts of California, Florida and other states. Only 18% disagree and 15% are undecided.

And this one, which shows that 81% of Americans support the greater use of domestic energy resources:

In pursuit of the immediate goal of energy security, clear majorities of Americans of every political and ideological stripe advocated the U.S. tap into its voluminous domestic energy resources, including the oil located off its coasts and in Alaska and the coal deep within its grounds... While there were some political and ideological differences, for the most part, Americans stood united in favor of a smart, practical energy policy that would allow them to drive to work and power their homes without breaking their bank accounts.

Only fools would buck such a strong trend, and indeed, the braying of the jackass is accompanied by a lot of kicking and bucking. Democrats, including their presidential nominee-to-be Barack Obama, find themselves in the unenviable position of calling for "windfall profits" taxes on the oil companies, opposing the majority of their countrymen who want domestic drilling now and choking on the tight collar and leash they so foolishly allowed the environmental lobby to shackle them with.

So McCain flip-flopped on domestic drilling. So what? The Democrats, while critical of McCain for changing his stance on the issue, have to try to explain Obama's flip-flop today on public financing of his campaign:

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, announced this morning that he will not enter into the public financing system, despite a previous pledge to do so... Declaring independence from a "broken system" by breaking a promise. Obama hopes you'll care more about the former than the latter.

The bottom line is this: McCain is moving to get in step with conservatives and the majority of Americans on domestic energy production. Obama, the Democrats and the enviros are so badly out of step that they're not even marching in the same parade. If Americans go into the voting booth this November thinking about which political candidates and parties have been working against them at the fuel pumps, Democrats may yet snatch defeat from the bulldog jaws of victory. And that will be a stunning underachievement.

-JP

[Sunnyflorida]

McCain is an idiot. He is likely to flip-flop on ANWR then add some nonsense that will de facto make it not workable. The man is a loose cannon

[Sunnyflorida]

“McCain absolutely needs to get on a plane and get to ANWR immediately”

He needs a trip the the everglades where we have been producing oil for 60 years. The man is clueless