On my Pennsylvania blog Friday night I put up a column entitled "Democrats' Gas Prices Destroying America." Frankly, it's time to take off the gloves on the gasoline crisis. Please visit.
The following important column is by my friend and fellow Western Pennsylvanian Jack Kelly, national security writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Toledo Blade, and other publications. He strongly endorses Gov. Sarah Palin for a place on the McCain ticket. He also strongly backs John McCain but believes the Senator lacks "shrewdness." (Jack Kelly is a former Marine, former Special Forces soldier, and former candidate for Congress.)
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Note: If your local newspaper doesn't print Jack Kelly's syndicated column, please call them up today and ask them (nicely but firmly) to start doing so. If they continue not to, keep calling.
BY JACK KELLY
Barack Obama has the lead for the time being. But three sign posts point the way to a McCain landslide in November -- in the unlikely event the Arizona senator has the wit to heed them.
What figures to be by far the most important issue this fall is the skyrocketing price of energy and its deleterious effect on the broader economy and national security.Now that Sen. McCain has flip flopped on drilling off of our coasts, there is a substantial difference between him and Sen. Obama on the issue. Sen. McCain also supports building more nuclear power plants, which Sen. Obama opposes.
Opinion polls indicate a large majority now supports drilling for oil off our coasts and in Alaska. That majority is likely to expand and harden as gas prices rise this summer. But Sen. McCain can't fully capitalize politically on this change in public attitude unless he completes his flip flop, and consents to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Commentary editor John Podhoretz fears Sen. McCain's ego will prevent him from doing what is in his, and his country's interest:"So McCain 2 makes a big speech about offshore drilling and the need for it. Fine. But the message is muted and confused. Why? Because McCain 1 voted against oil exploration and field development in (ANWR) and McCain 2 doesn't want to look like a flip flopper by changing his stand on the matter...In acting out of a combination of holer-than-thou piety and political pique, McCain 1 has made it all but impossible for McCain 2 to run with this issue and go on the offensive with Obama on a matter of central concern to the American people."
I fear Mr. Podhoretz is correct. But few Americans would hold flip flopping against Sen. McCain, because they've flip flopped, too. Soccer moms were happy to genuflect to environmental pieties when gasoline was $2 a gallon. But now that they have to sell their firstborn to fill up their SUVs, their attitude has changed dramatically.
If Sen. McCain were to fly to ANWR and announce his change of heart there, the attendant publicity would make it clear to Americans the sharp difference between himself and Sen. Obama on the issue most important to their pocketbooks. He supports letting Floridians and Californians decide whether there should be drilling off their coasts. Why shouldn't the same principle apply to Alaskans? A large majority favor drilling in ANWR.
The second sign post is Sen. Obama's clumsy embrace of a Sept. 10th attitude toward the war on terror. The law enforcement approach toward fighting it is precisely what led to Sept. 11, 2001.
Fortunately, national security is the one issue Sen. McCain knows something about. The danger for him here is that he'll overemphasize it. The fact that we're winning the war on terror makes most Americans less interested in it, and more focused on economic concerns. Voter anxiety about Sen. Obama's fitness to be commander in chief is a strong subsidiary issue.
But this election will be won or lost at the gas pump.
The third sign post was illuminated by the flap over the receipt by the (now former) head of Barack Obama's vice presidential selection committee and two prominent U.S. senators of below market rate loans from Countrywide Finance, which Sen. Obama has charged is in large part responsible for the sub-prime mortgage crisis. One of those senators, Chris Dodd of Connecticut, is trying to push through Congress a bill that would, in effect, bail out Countrywide.This glaring conflict of interest hasn't attracted much attention from the news media, because for most journalists, a scandal isn't really a scandal unless Republicans are involved.
But it's an issue tailor made for Sen. McCain. He has often stupidly (see McCain-Feingold), but always ardently, fought pork barrel spending and corruption. Congress has its lowest approval rating in the history of polling. Replacing the Washington way with the Chicago way is not an improvement. Sen. McCain is the best person to make that case, and Americans are in a mood to hear it.
The sign posts also indicate who Sen. McCain should choose for his running mate. No Republican can better make the case for drilling than Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and no governor has fought harder against corruption, especially in her own party.
So go to ANWR, Sen. McCain. Embrace Sarah Palin there. You'll have to eat some crow. But crow doesn't taste so bad when it's served on the White House china.
Email: jkelly@post-gazette.com
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6 comments:
Can’t realistically imagine McCain selecting anyone other than Palin as his Veep!
In addition to her overwhelming attraction on the oil/energy issue and the female/disaffected Hillary voters, her human interest story will generate millions and millions of dollars worth of publicity and media coverage -- essentially free to the McCain campaign -- more than offsetting Obama's reported money advantage.
Ted, I couldn't agree with you more. If you haven't seen Adam's analysis of Obama's red-state strategy (and how Sarah fits in), it's on McCainnow under my blog.
steve
Ted, I couldn't agree with you more. If you haven't seen Adam's analysis of Obama's red-state strategy (and how Sarah fits in), it's on McCainnow under my blog.
steve
Mac Pick Palin Veep BEFORE Hil Campaigns w/Obama!
A commenter on another post says it much better than I can:
"They say McCain reads the blogs, so here goes --
Senator McCain- Don't let the campaign kibbitzers muddle things up.
First and foremost, Sarah Palin shares your values. She killed the bridge to nowhere. Need we say more?
As for the politics, Sarah Palin transcends geography. Her constituency, like yours, goes beyond state lines.
She will get your ticket access to voters all over the country based on who she is and what she stands for. Because she's young, a woman, a mother with young kids, she will grab media attention more than any other potential candidate.
Gov. Palin also has a son in the active duty military. You have very wisely taken your son's service in Iraq off the table as a campaign talking point. That is and should be respected. But others can talk about it and reflect on what it means.
A McCain-Palin administration would be the first in memory which has family members in uniform during wartime from both the President and Vice President. That would be a powerful statement as to the importance of national service, especially in uniform.
Most importantly, any Vice President should be ready to step up and serve in the event she is needed. Frankly, who is really ever ready? Gov. Palin is as ready as anybody, she is a quick learner, and in her public career has exhibited the courage and decisiveness needed for a great leader.
Godspeed to you in your campaign and in making this important decision."
I can see it all now, Alaska Gov Sarah Palin’s husband, Todd, introducing Sarah as the next Vice President of the United States at the Republican National Convention later this summer, to the tune of Shania Twain’s “She’s Not Just a Pretty Face”.
Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMlcZDorjuE
Just imagine!!! (Dems, eat your heart out)
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