Both John McCain's and Republicans' in general focus recently on reducing fuel prices by opening up some areas offshore for oil drilling is helping, and will continue to help, the GOP this election year, argues Peter Brown today; and it will do so because it has the potential to resonate with voters in an interesting way:
"....$4 gasoline has forced voters to re-evaluate their view that more drilling for oil and natural gas in previously protected areas offshore or in Alaska is not worth potential environmental risks. They’ve shed that notion along with their previous reluctance to support expansion of nuclear power – long unpopular due to safety concerns — to produce electricity....Not only do voters agree with Sen. McCain about the need for drilling but also the issue offers an opportunity to make him the candidate of change while branding Sen. Obama as the captive of the status quo by catering to environmentalists over the national interest. If Sen. McCain can successfully make that case to the American people it might undercut the central theme of Sen. Obama’s campaign: that he is the candidate of the future who will make real change in Americans’ lives....what has changed is that high energy prices have apparently driven home the argument that the pro-drilling and nuclear power folks have been making for years: That renewable, alternative energy sources are decades from being able to significantly cut America’s need for fossil fuels. And the only way to bring down the high prices and avoid sending billions of dollars daily overseas is to increase domestic production of oil and natural gas."
And, even more importantly--McCain and Republicans are right on this issue.
