Democrats Fumble On Energy

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The Democrats–Hillary Clinton being an exception–thought they had everything set this year. An unpopular Republican incumbent, a weak economy, an unpopular war (less so now that we are winning in Iraq), and most importantly, a candidate who can convince his supporters to click their heels so Hope can be delivered to them.

But $4 a gallon gasoline is jeopardizing Barack Obama’s coronation. The Democrats have fumbled, and the GOP has the ball. It’s time to run with it and run up the score against the Dems.

The editors of the National Review Online analyze:

In both houses of Congress, the Democratic leadership has offered gimmicky solutions to distract the public from the drilling issue. First, Democrats argued that the oil companies had already leased millions of acres of public land that they weren’t using to produce any oil. That effort foundered when the oil companies pointed out that they weren’t producing oil on this land because they hadn’t found any when they explored it.

Then, Democrats pointed the finger at commodity traders, accusing them of driving up the price oil through “excessive speculation.” This effort didn’t gain any traction, either. Traders don’t conspire to drive up prices; they try to anticipate movements in supply and demand — so of course, as U.S. demand has slowed (and as an increasing number of U.S. policymakers have argued for increasing supply), the price of oil futures contracts has fallen.

NRO rightly dismisses the bi-partisan “Gang of 10″ compromise–which seems like another attempt to further boot ethanol production, in addition to allowing offshore drilling. Food prices are already going up because of high diesel fuel costs and the increasing acreage of land for corn intended for ethanol refinerys.

And now the exciting conclusion:

There is a simpler solution. The congressional ban on drilling has to be renewed each year, and the current ban expires in September, so congressional Republicans and President Bush should fight to stop the ban’s renewal. The Democrats are backpedaling like mad. Their presidential candidate doesn’t have a coherent position and has resorted to Carter-esque lectures on energy conservation. Meanwhile, the speaker of the House is telling vulnerable members of her caucus to support lifting the ban.

The Democrats find themselves on the wrong side of the most important issue to Americans right now. Now is not the time for a compromise. It’s time to keep applying pressure.

Keep up the pressure. It’s what the Ameriacn people want.

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