McCain Offshore Drilling Battle Reminiscent Of Iraq Surge, Aide Says

An aide to John McCain synthesized the Senator's two favorite topics into one political thesis today: his support for off-shore drilling and his policy proposals on Iraq.

"This is the domestic policy equivalent of the surge," said Nancy Pfotenhauer, "you have Sen. McCain looking at a situation, seeing the Congress not willing to solve a problem and calling for a change of policy... Then you have Sen. Obama who has an ironclad unwillingness because he won't risk alienating his political base."

Clearly, the McCain campaign is going to great efforts to paint the Senator as a "High Noon" type: the principled antagonist in ideological fights. But it's hard not to consider Pfotenhauer -- whose comments came during a conference call with bloggers -- in the context of McCain's history on offshore drilling. Three weeks before he began advocating the benefits of the policy, he told a town hall gathering that it would provide no short-term relief. Moreover, every reasonable economist - including many on McCain's list of endorsers - doesn't believe offshore drilling will have an immediate affect on gas prices.

Nevertheless, it is quite evident that McCain and his aides see energy as a key issue around which the election will be decided. By comparing his call for off-shore drilling to his advocacy of the surge his aides are deliberately attempting to raise the stakes of the debate.

Later in the conference call, Pfotenhauer was asked whether, in McCain's devotion to achieving energy independence, he would move to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

"I have heard nothing that would make me believe that he is," she replied. "Sen. McCain has, throughout his life and public career, been a well-known conservationist. He happens to believe there is a reason the word refuge is in ANWR's name. And he doesn't believe at this time that drilling in ANWR is necessary. There are 20 billion barrels off the gulf, 15 billion off Alaska... there is a lot we can access which would send an immediate and direct signal to the international community that we can handle our supply problems and we can get control over our supply problems rather than be at the mercy of OPEC countries."

Comments

[JiminNC]

When your only tool is a hammer, all your problems are nails. ~ Maslow

[drzoon]

mc cain is..

now...

A LIAR

[zippywpinhead]

in all fairness, Nancy Pfotenhauer is right in saying that the idea of off shore drilling is like the surge-

they are both bad ideas, both a case of too little too late, both will have (or have had) little actual impact on the problem they are designed to address and both are in fact attempts to throw up a smokescreen and distract low information voters from the real issues at hand while covering the collective a$$es of the people who got us into these messes by causing the problems in the first place...

it's a sad commentary upon the ignorance and gullibility of the American electorate that they will also both be surprisingly effective as campaign tactics, thanks in no small part to the complicity of the MSM...

[DRaymond]

So if the administration has already opened up NPRA, and the oil companies are already sitting on tons of undeveloped oil leases, and the ANWR and OCS tracts couldn't possibly develop much for years and even then would only be a minor offset, what is going on here?

Its about who gets to write the leases.

You don't think that this adminstration with two oilmen isn't going to write the most absolutely favorable lease possible for the oil companies? They'll say 'we don't want to setup any roadblocks to keep them from drilling us back into low prices, do we?'. And when they write the absurdly favorable lease they get a nice thank-you in terms of unlimited unreported donations to a 501c4 group?

[Rescisco]

We need a "surge" of common sense in the electorate. That surge, if successful, will at long last put an end to the reign of failure and error that McSame wishes to continue. We must win the "war on error." The errorists (Republicans) are planning many bold and vicious error attacks, and we must be prepared to meet them.

[majorteddy]

Yeah, McDufus , I like that oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. That's God telling you that offshore drilling and drilling in ANWR is wrong. Not only that but we have spent a lot of money on filling the strategic petroleum Reserve. I have always felt that we should use foreign oil while we can get it and save ours under our country in certain places like this that we could always get to in an emergency if we get cut off from overseas supplies.

[filo]

A noun, a verb and "the surge"


With apologies to Joe Biden.

[strength]

LMAO!

NO NO, I THINK BIDEN WILL USE THAT IN SOME DEBATES - THAT IS IF HE IS PICKED AS VP

[JiminNC]

I suspect everything is just like "the surge" to McDrool.

"When your only tool is a hammer, all your prolems look like nails." ~ Abraham Maslow

I wonder how Cyndee feels about "surges" ???

[jfor]

she hasnt

[YesWeCanada]

True, but both poll well with low-info voters and are easy to articulate. O's camp needs to do a better job of countering McSame's main arguments with simple messaging or it is likely to bite them in the a&&.

The Surge is over, Iraqi's want to shoulder more them selves and we desperately need to re-focus on a neglected Afghanistan.

Off Shore drilling will only benefit, Big Oil and the GOP enablers and escalate the USA's addiction to oil. The only way off the addiction is to turn to conservation, technology and renewables.

[eden4barack08]

Speaking of McC, unrelated to this thread, isn't his "little jerk" Graham, a senator too? Shouldn't he be doing his job for his state instead chaperoning Gramps around ? Under what official title is he just cruising along? I don't get it, he's ALWAYS with him.

Somebody please explain?

[MadJeffersonian]

I think you answered your own question - Chaperon.

Or Drivin' Mr. McCain.

[eden4barack08]

Lol, yeah, but isn't he neglecting his actual duties as Senator of SC? He's still on the payroll.

[Daly]

Too Funny.

I'd be surprised if Graham will be anywhere near the walking gaffe-o-meter in future; the guy must have owed somebody, he did not look happy or comfortable around the overt display of rudeness.

[eden4barack08]

The surge, the surge, the surge. Good God, that's the only cow this man's got and boy is he gonna milk it dry!

[nonconformist2]

McFumbles has a tendency to have unwanted surges in his pants when he drinks too much water, which is why the a.dul.t d.ia.pers are so helpful!

[nonconformist2]

Iraq needs to run out and get a restraining order, cause McLooney is obsessed! Not surprisingly, he sees EVERYTHING of Iraq and his yummy yummy war. Time to put the old man out to pasture (how about a nice assisted living facility in Florida!)

[Killjoy]

Man..this dude is off the page!!!

[wndrwrthg]

And yet, with the current poluitical machinery, he could very well be elected president.
Fear the future.

[nonconformist2]

D.amn the electoral college!

[eden4barack08]

Let's not be cynical. So far McC is about 30 electoral votes below Obama's 280.

[iswideopen]

You dumbie; just what we need, more oil spils. After Katrina, and the oil spil in Mississippi currently, what is your problem? DogFood Brand should not have objected to the bill that was on the table for drilling where BIG OIL already has leases. You have yet another loosing proposition.