Posted on 06/21/2008 8:11:34 AM PDT by Brices Crossroads
With the Gallup poll of June 20, 2008 reporting that Congress's approval is at an all time low (in the 35 year history of this survey question), and with the salient issue of oil prices taking center stage in the 2008 election, John McCain's strategy and objectives have become clear. He must attempt to tie Obama to the miserably unpopular Democratic Congress. The bridge for making the connection between Obama and the unpopular Congress is the issue of oil prices and drilling. It is a simple issue. Gas prices were at roughly $2 a gallon in 2006 before the Democrats took over. They have doubled in a single year. He should ask the question: What has the Congress, controlled by Obama's party, done about it? Nothing. What does Obama propose to do about it? Nothing. McCain wants to begin drilling offshore. Obama's response is that this will not reduce the price of gas immediately. This is patent nonsense. The price is artificially high now. There are no shortages, and it is driven up by the speculation that has gripped the markets that oil prices will continue their rise unabated. If the Congress were to open up America's own huge reserves of oil, not only offshore but in ANWR and oil shale, the speculation that has fueled this price rise would begin to abate, perhaps rapidly, because those who purchase oil futures would be afraid to purchase them at $150 a barrel when in a year or two, America's massive new production could drive the price drastically lower. The fear which drove the price up rapidly will drive the price down just as rapidly. The consequences for the economy, needless to say, would be nothing short of spectacular.
McCain should make this argument, explaining to people that they will get more or less immediate relief if Congress should take these actions (not to mention the construction of new refineries-we have not had a new one in 30 years- and the nuclear plants that McCain has already proposed).
Obama will be isolated with the enviro-leftists, and will be unable to "flip flop" to a pro-drilling position for fear of alienating his own base. The "Drill Now, Pay Less" argument, and Congress' deliberate inaction on this issue, also serve to link Obama to the Democrat Congress, which cancels and perhaps reverses, any drag which Bush represented for McCain.
This strategy can have down ballot consequences as well. If the GOP can nationalize the election around this issue, as I believe they can, they can reverse the results in Districts such as the three (in Mississippi, Louisiana and Illinois) that recently went Democratic. Even if the freshmen Democratic incumbents support drilling (as I believe they would, given their respective districts' conservative bent), the GOP could argue convincingly that as long as San Francisco Democrat Nancy Pelosi is Speaker, legislation lifting the ban on drilling will never make it to the House floor. Since these allegedly conservative Democrat congressmen vote for her for Speaker, they are complicit in her deliberate refusal to bring the legislation up and thus they too are responsible for the higher gas prices.
McCain's strategy is clear. Tie the albatross of the Congress and oil prices around Obama's neck. Done effectively, this issue will turn what I believe would have been a fairly comfortable win by McCain anyway into a landslide. And, significantly, it would cost the Democrats control of the Congress as well.
the obamama is a Marxist and plans to Nationalize industry and to tax us into "You can't drive your SUV's, have your thermostats at 72, you can't eat all you want - and have the world say OK.>
He has stated that he intends to rebuild Africa - and that will be by taking the money our of our pockets to put in theirs,,,redistribution of wealth, aka, Marxism/Communism.
He is committed to total gun control, abortion even to the point of killing live babies that managed to get born before the late term abortion was complete...etc.
McCain is a Federalist (we are not a democracy - we are a Federal gov't) and holds to STATES RIGHTS, per the Constitution. He holds that the states should decide what goes on in their states and not be overridden with mandates from DC.
He is against gun control, abortion, etc etc. (and he has NEVER once taken pork barrel money - care to list the names of all the others who have that record? It shouldn't take long.)
The "no difference between Obama and McCain" mantra is getting old.
Those who continue to spout it are either naive or willfully intent on marginalizing him - and our only chance in staving off the take over of Marxism...
“Which potential hard right VP is your favorite? Or more than one if you have a list.”
Hunter
Barbour
Palin(ok, I throw her in because I am a hetero male) but I like her politically as well.
We already know how to get all the energy we need. The technology is there. The government is the obstacle.
BINGO!
Frankly, the last 5 elections have not been won courtesy of “the base”. They have been votes against someone or something.
The concept of the base is going away as the parties become less homogeneous and the various special interests within the parties come in to conflict.
Can't argue with that. IMO, The American people are being used though. The Dems need to blame high prices right on the right,and can not let the republicans lower them, and make voters happy. The Republicans need high prices right now so that they can tell the voters they would fix it but the dems won't let them. In actuality I don't think either side cares about how much we have to pay and want to sit on the liquid gold that could make a lot of money if the mid East runs out or busts. Why sell it cheap to the peasants?
AMEN to that brother:-()
If you mean by that, Do I consider Obama more dangerous to the welfare of this country both foreign and domestic, the answer is yes. I know, from your posts, you despise McCain and would prefer to turn the country over to Obama in hopes of getting Mr. Perfect in 2012. The problem with that is you have no guarantee of either nominating or electing your ideal in 2012.
Even if you did get your ideal in 2012, remember the lessons of 1976. Jimmy Carter was defeated after only one term. He did immense damage to our economy, but Reagan quickly rectified that. His foreign policy disasters, most notably the overthrow of the Shah in Iran and the installation of the Mullahs, dog us 30 years later and shows no signs of abating. Domestic leftism sometimes can be reversed. Foreign Policy leftism can last for generations. I don’t want the next Democratic foreign policy fiasco to end with a mushroom cloud over an American city.
You think the country would be better off taking the chance of four years of Obama and trying to evict him in 2012. I, and most conservatives, disagree. McCain is not perfect. Neither was Reagan. He gave us Sandra Day O’Connor and Anthony Kennedy. We are still suffering from the latter. The perfectionist caucus gets us Jimmy Carters and Barack Obamas. No thanks.
Duncan Hunter would be an out of this world good pick, for conservatives.
Not sure it helps electorally except if it would help him generally with the base, which is for sure where his problem rests.
I like Haley a lot, but hasn’t he said a flat “no”?
Also, prior to being governor and following his RNC stint, he was a big, big time lobbyist. OK by me, but it increases vulnerability on that ginned up issue.
I like Haley because he is a great talker and very, very persuasive. McCain is terrible at both.
Palin’s name was put forward on a thread about a rumor that McCain was strongly considering her. I was amazed at the number of Alaskans who were at each others’ throats in disagreement about who is the true Sarah Palin.
No, actually, it was corruption among the GOP that got Carter elected. Not Conservatives.(Watergate)
The same goes for the elections in 2006. Conservatives showed up in record numbers and we lost miserably because of the record numbers of ignorant and moderate voters who went to the polls, driven by the press.(Again, Republican corruption.)
They will do the same this election in spite of our best efforts. We are grossly outnumbered by the Left.
especially after the press drags all those skeletons from McNasty’s closet to air out to the public. It will be scandal after scandal. From his wife on down to several of his own.
It will be McCain corruption 24/7 and Obama sainthood. Get ready for it. It’s coming very soon.
A vote for a Democrat is a vote for Reid Regular at $8.199 a gallon, Murtha Mid-Range at $8.399 a gallon, and Pelosi Premium at $8.599 a gallon by election day 2010.
I suppose we need to start printing white on black bumper stickers: 01 * 20 * 13
Obamination's Last Day
Good thought but one must also remember that McCain is also a member of the Congress that needs to be discredited.
I hope you are not going to be disappointed when McCain crushes Obama. Obama’s strength right now is a mirage. Just think how formidable the Confederate Army looked when they stepped out of the woods on Seminary Ridge at Gettysburg. Looked unstoppable. As they got closer to Cemetery Ridge, the Cannon and musket fire cut them to pieces.
The same, figuratively speaking, is going to happen to Obama’s wimpy pop Marxist campaign. If the MSM could not save Gore and Kerry, both of whom had some appeal to moderates and Reagan Democrats, how are they going to save a black Marxist with a paper thin resume and six boxcar loads of baggage, who can’t even get a clue when it comes top gas prices? It ain’t gonna happen. This drilling issue is just the beginning. Obama will be lucky to carry 10 states.
You’re describing parties that stand for nothing, and are therefore useless. Which is accurate.
Somebody has to fire the proverbial cannons you speak of. McCain has been reluctant to do so, and the MSM is ready to quash any feeble attempt he may make.
Absolutely. And one of the most egregious offenders in helping to turn over the Congress to the Democrats.
Wrong premises, wrong conclusions.
I prefer no such thing.
I believe that you fight EVERYONE who is destroying our republic on EVERY front, and leave the results to God. And that applies no matter what meaningless party label they apply to themselves. [Obviously it's meaningless to them, why should it mean anything to me?]
"Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the rest is in the hands of God." - George Washington
Conversely, by being unprincipled, you've trapped yourself into supporting what you arbitrarily and admittedly consider to be the lesser of two evils. IOW, no matter what, you're supporting evil. [By the way, the littlest imp with the prettiest mask may well end up hiding the biggest and baddest demon of all, no matter how arrogantly you judge yourself able to judge between evils.]
If your only choices are evil, you've gone to a place most folks don't want to end up.
As for me, I know that my God never leaves me in ANY circumstance in which I'm forced to choose evil. Ever.
"Depart from evil and do good." - Psalm 34:14
Just consider the elections you illustrated for comparison. Gore and Kerry were running at a time when America was at a turning point and very close to equally divided. But today, the Liberal tide has turned and is marching in on us rapidly.
Look how fast it turned around in 2006, when many here on this forum were convinced the Democrats were as good as dead, a totally inept and insignificant philosophy for all eternity. There was no clue that it would reverse itself in a manner of months.
Therefore, I would caution you about gloating or becoming too arrogant in regards to the status of the GOP among the American public. You stand to be greatly disappointed.
Hillarious. First, you've forgotten who was firing at Gore and Kerry. Let me give you a clue: McCain has betrayed virtually all of those troops, in ways that really matter and that they won't soon forget.
You also seem to be in denial about who and what McCain is. He regularly shoots our troops and marches in the other side's army. His best buddies are the enemy's generals.
Even if the prices don't initially drop sharply, I suspect that they will begin to drop more and more with time.
Once the drill bits strike the ground, and the oil is pumped out by the thousands of gallons, you will witness another drop in the price of oil futures.
Just stay on your congress critters and the McCain camp about drilling.
Otherwise, the price of oil futures will only continue to rise as OPEC continues to maintain its grip on our Republic.
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