Following up on this -- I think the Democrats have made a specific and costly error. Consider the following Republican argument:
Democrats have accepted No. 2, but they're trying to fight off No. 3. They're arguing that we can bring down gas prices by drilling on already leased land, or releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or cracking down on "price gouging."
It's an untenable position and it's not going to hold. If Congress has a responsibility to bring down gas prices by getting more oil to market, why stop with those things? Why not offshore drilling and oil shale too? This is where the Republican "all of the above" message gets its power. If you have a choice between a party that will do X for you, and a party that will do X+1 for you, what will you choose?
The crucial mistake is to accept No. 2.
Nobody will deny people are hurting; nobody will deny that for both political and substantive reasons politicians have to do something. But if Democrats accept that lowering gas prices is the only politically efficacious response, they are trapped on a battlefield on which they cannot win.
I talked to numerous Dem operatives about this last week, and I heard the same thing several times: Voters aren't sophisticated enough to understand anything but "we'll lower your gas prices." Anything else requires explanation, and voters don't sit still for explanation. So that's the field they have to fight on.
I think that misreads the situation and misreads voters. The drilling "movement" is a classically right-wing operation -- top-heavy, fueled by corporate money, reliant on aggressive PR, and meant to intimidate D.C. decisionmakers. It is astroturf, not grassroots. Dems need to regain the courage of their convictions and start coordinating with their own grassroots around a simple -- and substantively correct -- counter-attack. I'll sketch what I think it could be in my next post.
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http://budz.wordpress.com/2008/07/15/us-oil-firms-seek-drilling-access-but-exports-soar/
What is that all about?????
And they would sit before the cameras with the pie charts and graphs like Perot did to get their message across. And that message would be loudly and forthrightly delivered.
WE DO NOT NEED MORE LEASES!
MORE LEASES ARE A RIPOFF OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!
AND WE WILL NOT ALLOW IT!
Leases do one thing.
They take a resource that belongs to the American people, and place those resources into the hands of trans-national corporate biddrs for the ultimate benefit of those corporations.
New leases are a resource ripoff.
Who will answer for the fact of the unused leaseholds on MILLIONS of acres of land and offshore?
NOBODY !
Because the Dems are a bunch of lilly-livered, weak-kneed has beens.
And based on these positions and policies, their days are numbered.
Me thinks Reid and Company are the ones that do not have the understanding of what the American people mean when they give the Congress a lower rating than this horrendous President.
They think they are backing into the presidency and the control of the Congress.
But their inane and unsuccessful posturing on this issue could cause them some seats they would otherwise have won.
Gas is $4 a gallon.
And, Democrats are stupid.
The problem with that is they don't have any convictions.
Also the fact that W announced lifting the ban on OCS drilling, doesnt this speak to speculation gone wild?
Only the president can do this. If this happens this places the ball back in the hands of Boosh and the republicans. I don't think they want that so they are playing hardball politics with this issue.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25839620/
"Dem operatives about this last week, and I heard the same thing several times: Voters aren't sophisticated enough to understand anything "
It is easy to see why the working adults in America dislike the fuzzy faced liberal operatives. But I'm glad you and T. Boone Pickens have the answers to our oil crisis. I'll sleep better tonight.
I believe the dems are doing right holding the line with their exact line of resistam=nce, and not giving in to the greed. of the oil companies who are jumping at the chance to exploit the country's resources at this crucial time.