Oil Drilling Will Be the Gun Control of 2008

In previous presidential elections gun control was a decisive issue for Republicans, with strong margins favoring fewer restrictions and more freedom for gun owners. I've thought for some time that the big issue this year was going to be energy, and according to Fred Barnes, the GOP is on the right side of the drilling issue as far as most voters are concerned:

Not many polls bring good news to Republicans, but a new survey by John Zogby certainly has. Zogby found that 74 percent of likely voters favor drilling for oil and gas offshore in coastal waters. Here’s the breakdown of those who support drilling: 90 percent of Republicans, 58 percent of Democrats, and 75 percent of independents. Not bad, and it gets better. A quarter of the likely voters said they’d be more likely to vote for John McCain if they knew he backed offshore drilling for oil and gas, which he does.

So it looks like Republicans are getting their drill, drill, drill message across after all. House Republicans especially have pushed the argument with real vigor lately. Roy Blunt, the House Republican whip, has urged them to push it even more relentlessly, even if they’re bored or embarrassed or tired with saying the same thing over and over again. This is a smart tactic. Repetition is required to reach most voters, whose attention to politics and what’s going on in Washington is fleeting. Repetition also works.

With gasoline at more than $4 a gallon, Democrats are in a highly vulnerable position. They oppose offshore drilling. In fact, they oppose any increased use of fossil fuels (oil, coal) for energy. This, of course, is the position of the special interest whose wishes are treated by Democrats as commands--the environmental lobby. It’s Barack Obama’s position, too. The Democratic talking points on gasoline and energy are ludicrous. They claim oil companies, which they insist are greedy, are purposely not drilling in areas leased at great cost at a time when gasoline prices are at a record high. That charge makes no sense. Democrats also take credit for raising miles-per-gallon standards on cars, standards that go into effect years from now. But the market is already doing this. Car buyers are now looking for high mileage vehicles and avoiding SUVs.

Maybe, just maybe, all is not lost in the 2008 election for Republicans. Because we’re winning, the war in Iraq is no longer the issue it was in 2006. Sure, Republicans aren’t popular, but at least they have an issue to exploit. Voters aren’t blaming Democrats yet for the surge in gasoline prices. But they may if Republicans keep up the attack and Democrats continue to offer lame excuses.

Drill here. Drill now. Pay less. The GOP needs to hammer that message home in every speech, and John McCain not only needs to beat Obama up on the offshore issue, but needs to switch his position on ANWR as well. It's a winning issue and the right thing for America.