Friday, August 01, 2008
Barack Obama wants to drill now too!
Adopting a longstanding TigerHawk/McCain position, Barack Obama is now somewhat less than dead set against drilling on the continental shelf. Not a full-blown flip-flop, but progress. And it isolates Nancy Pelosi, which is always good fun (she having called offshore drilling a "hoax", some reporter somewhere might -- if he wakes up on the wrong side of the bed -- ask her whether Barack Obama has fallen for it).
In any case, Tom Maguire is sounding awfully cynical:
This may simply be another manifestation of an Obama campaign tactic - adopt every position held by McCain and then ask voters to choose their next President on the basis of youth, energy, and speaking skill. Could work!
Yes, it could. The biggest celebrity in the world can get away with a great deal.
9 Comments:
By 
, at
Sat Aug 02, 12:29:00 AM:
No one ever claimed Obama was stupid. We need oil, it is time to drill. Lets see if we can get him to start moving on some nuclear energy while we are at it.
By 
JPMcT, at
Sat Aug 02, 01:45:00 AM:
I truly believe Obama would dump his wife ("She's not the person I knew")if it were necessary to attain power. He has already dumped his radical pastor, his extremist friends and several of his trial-balloon beliefs.
He certainly fits the celebrity character. Perhaps we should have a televised call-in vote (a la "American Idol")rather than a ballot at the polls.
Obamanation.
By kreiz1, at
Sat Aug 02, 02:30:00 AM:
He's getting clobbered on the issue (predictably). He calculates he can hold the Greens, who won't vote McCain (but who might vote Nadar), while appearing moderate to the 75% of us who want drilling and nuclear and all other energy forms. If elected, he'll never drill; his true feelings are betrayed by his initial position.
More importantly, it reveals a serious Obama weakness: he's lousy at tacking toward the middle. It's something he didn't have to do against HRC in the primaries. He's not adept at it. Looks like pure cynicism. Let the equivocating begin.
By kreiz1, at
Sat Aug 02, 07:56:00 AM:
Obama's effort is awkward, stumbling- if he gets an otherwise perfect energy package, he won't veto it if it includes restricted offshore drilling. It's the worst of both worlds- making his Green supporters queasy while 'endorsing' limited drilling via a double negative ("I Won't Veto...")
FoxNews is calling it Oil Slick.
By , at
Sat Aug 02, 08:11:00 AM:
who believes this guy any more? if you think everyone but you is fooled -- you might be a real obama voter. there is 0 chance he will ever actually allow more drilling, or anything that is not demogratic dogma. just look at his record, such as it is.
By , at
Sat Aug 02, 09:24:00 AM:
You all do realize that
1) the prospect of drilling as part of a compromise (all that the article claims) has been favorably brought up in these very threads before, showing that this is not a new idea and in fact somewhat predictable;
2) compromise, horse-trading and the "unity/get it done" themes are things Obama has stresed for a while now, so if he didn't go in this direction there would still be whining and cries of 'hypocrite',
3) as far as "adopting every McCain position," it wasn't Obama that had to pivot on time whatever-the-hell-you-want-to-call-them and diplomacy with Iran.
At least, I hope it was realized. Though based on the content above me, I wouldn't bet on it.
Further, if there is no difference, why the Obama beef? Differences on taxes, healthcare, basically everything related to women's issues, Iraq, renewables policy, and even understanding/using the internet seem important, and enough to undermine the shallow, dismissive, and transparently untrue "they're the same and McCain is likable" talking point.
Sidebar on the Internet: I had guessed that Senator SeriesOfTubes needed to be taken our of commission, but I wasn't expecting it to happen this way.
By , at
Sat Aug 02, 09:49:00 AM:
McCain and Obama poll close to each other, within the realm of polling error, at this moment.
But I wonder if McCain can crack the 48-50% level at ANY time between now and November. Obama is going to oscillate based on the argument of the week. I think he will actually start to poll better in the next few weeks as now Congress is out of session and his party won't do too much to embarass him until September.
But there is polling, and then there is polling of "likely voters". All the yutes that are sticky for Obama may not take the time to show up on election day. It will be a fingernail chewer until the end.
Which is why you should write in DEC for President. He could pull it out!
-David
By , at
Sat Aug 02, 11:45:00 AM:
"adopt every position held by McCain"?
Say what? I know y'all are giddy with the um...success (?) of the Britney ads but let's not lose sight of the reality outside You Tube. Kay?
Firstly, until a month McCain was against offshore drilling so I'm not sure we can really call this a McCain position. More like a new McCain position. He seems to be very fond of new positions. To wit: how he changed his mind on the Bush tax cuts, waterboarding, closing Guantanamo Bay, abortion, allowing gay marriages, estate tax, affirmative action, celebrating Martin Luther King Day, and oh yes, S. Carolina flying the Connfederate flag. But I digress.
If you follow McCain's campaign, you'll learn that it is McCain who has moved closer to Obama's positions recently.
More troops in Afghanistan? Check.
Sixteen months time li...I mean time horizon for troop withdrawal? That could work....
Increase Social Security taxes? Everything's on the table.
By Georg Felis, at
Sun Aug 03, 02:02:00 AM:
I'm more worried about how the Dems are packaging their nutty ideas to make the gullible vote for them. Just a week after Bush made the push for offshore drilling that lowered oil prices, I get this drivel in the mail:
"Congress is calling the bluff of Big Oil and it's working! Two things we're doing. First, we've made it clear we not only allow, but we EXPECT the oil companies to drill or they must give up the leases they've been holding onto. Second, we're bringing legislation to the floor this week to curb speculation and manipulation. The market is responding to both. "
/sarcasm mode
Gee, the concept of "do as we tell you or we'll violate signed contracts and criminally prosecute you for things that were not crimes" really must have awesome power to reduce prices. Now they need to use that same thuggish restraint on other pesky expenses like Medical, Housing, and Utilities.
/sarcasm mode off
Morons. Next thing they'll tell us is raising taxes on those evil Big Oil companies will reduce our price at the pump. Oh, wait....
